THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


Miss  Forbes 


THE 

SCARLET   CAR 


BY 

RICHARD   HARDING  DAVIS 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 
FREDERIC  DORR  STEELE 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
1907 


COPYRIGHT,  1906,  BY 
RICHARD  HARDING  DAVIS 


COPYRIGHT,  1907,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


Published,  June,  1907 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK 


Z8 


TO 
NED     STONE 


640519 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

THE  JAIL-BRKAKERS 1 

THE  TRESPASSERS 57 

THE  KIDNAPPERS  .  .  105 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Miss  Forbes Frontispiece 


FACING 

PAQE 


Ernest  Peabody 6 

Miss  Forbes  took  a  snapshot  of  the  scene     .     .     12 
"You  been  exceedin'  our  speed  limit"     ...     32 

The    moonlight   was   eclipsed    by   a   head    and 

shoulders 50 

' '  There  ought  to  be  a  house  just  about  here ' '     60 

In  the  two  circles  of  light  the  men   surveyed 
each  other 82 

"You've  broken  the  bone,"  he  said    .     .     .     .     96 
The  girl  shrinking  against  the  wall     ....     98 

He  tried   to   place  the  head    and   shoulders  of 

the  body  against  the  iron  pillar    ....  112 

She   placed   her   finger   on   a  twisting  red   line 

that  trickled  through  a  page  of  type     .     .  144 

It    was    always    a    great    day    in    the    life    of 

"Izzy"  Schwab 148 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 


THE  JAIL-BREAKERS 

FOR  a  long  time  it  had  been  arranged 
they  all  should  go  to  the  Harvard 
and  Yale  game  in  Winthrop's  car.  It 
was  perfectly  well  understood.  Even 
Peabody,  who  pictured  himself  and 
Miss  Forbes  in  the  back  of  the  car,  with 
her  brother  and  Winthrop  in  front, 
condescended  to  approve.  It  was  nec- 
essary to  invite  Peabody  because  it  was 
his  great  good  fortune  to  be  engaged 
to  Miss  Forbes.  Her  brother  Sam  had 
been  invited,  not  only  because  he  could 
act  as  chaperon  for  his  sister,  but  be- 
cause since  they  were  at  St.  Paul's, 
1 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

Winthrop  and  he,  either  as  participants 
or  spectators,  had  never  missed  going 
together  to  the  Yale-Harvard  game. 
And  Beatrice  Forbes  herself  had  been 
invited  because  she  was  herself. 

When  at  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  game,  Winthrop  stopped  the  car 
in  front  of  her  door,  he  was  in  love  with 
all  the  world.  In  the  November  air 
there  was  a  sting  like  frost-bitten  cider, 
in  the  sky  there  was  a  brilliant,  beauti- 
ful sun,  in  the  wind  was  the  tingling 
touch  of  three  ice-chilled  rivers.  And 
in  the  big  house  facing  Central  Park, 
outside  of  which  his  prancing  steed  of 
brass  and  scarlet  chugged  and  protested 
and  trembled  with  impatience,  was  the 
most  wonderful  girl  in  all  the  world.  It 
was  true  she  was  engaged  to  be  mar- 
ried, and  not  to  him.  But  she  was  not 
yet  married.  And  to-day  it  would  be 
his  privilege  to  carry  her  through  the 
2 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

State  of  New  York  and  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  and  he  would  snatch 
glimpses  of  her  profile  rising  from  the 
rough  fur  collar,  of  her  wind-blown 
hair,  of  the  long,  lovely  lashes  under 
the  gray  veil. 

"  f  Shall   be   together,   breathe   and 
ride,  so,  one  day  more  am  I  deified ;  ' 
whispered  the  young  man  in  the  Scar- 
let Car;  "  '  who  knows  but  the  world 
may  end  to-night  ?  ' 

As  he  waited  at  the  curb,  other  great 
touring-cars,  of  every  speed  and  shape, 
in  the  mad  race  for  the  Boston  Post 
Road,  and  the  town  of  New  Haven, 
swept  up  Fifth  Avenue.  Some  rolled 
and  puffed  like  tugboats  in  a  heavy  sea- 
way, others  glided  by  noiseless  and 
proud  as  private  yachts.  But  each  flew 
the  colors  of  blue  or  crimson. 

Winthrop's  car,  because  her  brother 
had  gone  to  one  college,  and  he  had 
3 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

played  right  end  for  the  other,  was 
draped  impartially.  And  so  every  other 
car  mocked  or  cheered  it,  and  in  one 
a  bare-headed  youth  stood  up,  and 
shouted  to  his  fellows:  "  Look!  there's 
Billy  Winthrop!  Three  times  three 
for  old  Billy  Winthrop!  "  And  they 
lashed  the  air  with  flags,  and  sent  his 
name  echoing  over  Central  Park. 

Winthrop  grinned  in  embarrassment, 
and  waved  his  hand.  A  bicycle  cop,  and 
Fred,  the  chauffeur,  were  equally  im- 
pressed. 

"Was  they  the  Harvoids,  sir? r 
asked  Fred. 

"  They  was,"  said  Winthrop. 

Her  brother  Sam  came  down  the  steps 
carrying  sweaters  and  steamer-rugs. 
But  he  wore  no  holiday  countenance. 

"  What  do  you  think  ?  "  he  demanded 
indignantly.     "  Ernest  Peabody's  in- 
side making  trouble.    His  sister  has  a 
4 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

Pullman  on  one  of  the  special  trains, 
and  lie  wants  Beatrice  to  go  with  her." 

In  spite  of  his  furs,  the  young  man 
in  the  car  turned  quite  cold.  "  Not 
with  us?  "  he  gasped. 

Miss  Forbes  appeared  at  the  house 
door,  followed  by  Ernest  Peabody.  He 
wore  an  expression  of  disturbed  dig- 
nity; she  one  of  distressed  amusement. 
That  she  also  wore  her  automobile  coat 
caused  the  heart  of  Winthrop  to  leap 
hopefully. 

"  Winthrop,"  said  Peabody,  "  I  am 
in  rather  an  embarrassing  position. 
My  sister,  Mrs.  Taylor  Holbrooke  >: 
he  spoke  the  name  as  though  he  were 
announcing  it  at  the  door  of  a  drawing- 
room — "  desires  Miss  Forbes  to  go  with 
her.  She  feels  accidents  are  apt  to 
occur  with  motor  cars — and  there  are 
no  other  ladies  in  your  party — and  the 

crowds " 

5 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

Winthrop  carefully  avoided  looking 
at  Miss  Forbes. 

"  I  should  be  very  sorry,"  he  mur- 
mured. 

"  Ernest!  "  said  Miss  Forbes,  "  I  ex- 
plained it  was  impossible  for  me  to  go 
with  your  sister.  We  would  be  ex- 
tremely rude  to  Mr.  Winthrop.  How 
do  you  wish  us  to  sit?  "  she  asked. 

She  mounted  to  the  rear  seat,  and 
made  room  opposite  her  for  Peabody. 

"  Do  I  understand,  Beatrice,"  began 
Peabody  in  a  tone  that  instantly  made 
every  one  extremely  uncomfortable, 
"  that  I  am  to  tell  my  sister  you  are  not 
coming?  ' 

"  Ernest!  "  begged  Miss  Forbes. 

Winthrop  bent  hastily  over  the  oil 
valves.  He  read  the  speedometer, 
which  was,  as  usual,  out  of  order,  with 
fascinated  interest. 

"  Ernest,"  pleaded  Miss  Forbes, 
6 


Ernest  Peabody 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

"  Mr.  Winthrop  and  Sam  planned  this 
trip  for  us  a  long  time  ago — to  give  us 
a  little  pleasure— 

"  Then,"  said  Peabody  in  a  hollow 
voice,  "  you  have  decided?  ' 

"  Ernest,"  cried  Miss  Forbes,  "  don't 
look  at  me  as  though  you  meant  to  hurl 
the  curse  of  Rome.  I  have.  Jump  in. 
Please!" 

"  I  will  bid  you  good-by,"  said  Pea- 
body;  "  I  have  only  just  time  to  catch 
our  train." 

Miss  Forbes  rose  and  moved  to  the 
door  of  the  car. 

"  I  had  better  not  go  with  any  one," 
she  said  in  a  low  voice. 

"  You  will  go  with  me,"  commanded 
her  brother.  "  Come  on,  Ernest." 

"  Thank  you,  no,"  replied  Peabody. 
"  I  have  promised  my  sister." 

"  All  right,  then,"  exclaimed  Sam 
briskly,  "  see  you  at  the  game.  Sec- 
7 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

tion  H.     Don't  forget.     Let  her  out, 
Billy.'7 

With  a  troubled  countenance  Win- 
throp  bent  forward  and  clasped  the 
clutch. 

"  Better  come,  Peabody,"  he  said. 

"  I  thank  you,  no,"  repeated  Pea- 
body.  "  I  must  go  with  my  sister." 

As  the  car  glided  forward  Brother 
Sam  sighed  heavily. 

"  My!  but  he's  got  a  mean  disposi- 
tion," he  said.  "  He  has  quite  spoiled 
my  day." 

He  chuckled  wickedly,  but  Winthrop 
pretended  not  to  hear,  and  his  sister 
maintained  an  expression  of  utter  de- 
jection. 

But  to  maintain  an  expression  of 
utter  dejection  is  very  difficult  when  the 
sun  is  shining,  when  you  are  flying  at 
the  rate  of  forty  miles  an  hour,  and 
when  in  the  cars  you  pass  foolish  youths 
8 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

wave  Yale  flags  at  you,  and  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  day  to  cry:  "  Three 
cheers  for  the  girl  in  the  blue  hat !  ' 

And  to  entirely  remove  the  last  trace 
of  the  gloom  that  Peabody  had  forced 
upon  them,  it  was  necessary  only  for  a 
tire  to  burst.  Of  course  for  this  effort, 
the  tire  chose  the  coldest  and  most 
fiercely  wind-swept  portion  of  the  Pel- 
ham  Road,  where  from  the  broad  waters 
of  the  Sound  pneumonia  and  the  grip 
raced  rampant,  and  where  to  the  touch 
a  steel  wrench  was  not  to  be  distin- 
guished from  a  piece  of  ice.  But  be- 
fore- the  wheels  had  ceased  to  complain, 
Winthrop  and  Fred  were  out  of  their 
fur  coats,  down  on  their  knees,  and 
jacking  up  the  axle. 

"  On  an  expedition  of  this  sort/'  said 
Brother  Sam,  "  whatever  happens,  take 
it  as  a  joke.  Fortunately,"  he  ex- 
plained, "  I  don't  understand  fixing 
9 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

inner  tubes,  so  I  will  get  out  and  smoke. 
I  have  noticed  that  when  a  car  breaks 
down,  there  is  always  one  man  who 
paces  up  and  down  the  road  and  smokes. 
His  hope  is  to  fool  passing  cars  into 
thinking  that  the  people  in  his  car 
stopped  to  admire  the  view." 

Recognizing  the  annual  football 
match  as  intended  solely  to  replenish 
the  town  coffers,  the  thrifty  townsfolk 
of  Rye,  with  bicycles  and  red  flags,  were, 
as  usual,  and  regardless  of  the  speed 
at  which  it  moved,  levying  tribute  on 
every  second  car  that  entered  their  hos- 
pitable boundaries.  But  before  the 
Scarlet  Car  reached  Rye,  small  boys 
of  the  town,  possessed  of  a  sporting 
spirit,  or  of  an  inherited  instinct  for 
graft,  were  waiting  to  give  a  noisy  no- 
tice of  the  ambush.  And  so,  fore- 
warned, the  Scarlet  Car  crawled  up  the 
main  street  of  Rye  as  demurely  as  a 
10 


THE    JAIL-B.REAKERS 

baby-carriage,  and  then,  having  safely 
reached  a  point  directly  in  front  of  the 
police  station,  with  a  loud  and  ostenta- 
tious report,  blew  up  another  tire. 

"  Well,"  said  Sam  crossly,  "  they 
can't  arrest  us  for  speeding." 

"  Whatever  happens,"  said  his  sister, 
"  take  it  as  a  joke." 

Two  miles  outside  of  Stamford, 
Brother  Sam  burst  into  open  mu- 
tiny. 

"  Every  car  in  the  United  States  has 
passed  us,"  he  declared.  "  We  won't 
get  there,  at  this  rate,  till  the  end  of 
the  first  half.  Hit  her  up,  can't  you, 
Billy?" 

"  She  seems  to  have  an  illness,"  said 
iWinthrop  unhappily.  "  I  think  I'd 
save  time  if  I  stopped  now  and  fixed 
her." 

Shamefacedly  Fred  and  he  hid  them- 
selves under  the  body  of  the  car,  and 
11 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

a  sound  of  hammering  and  stentorian 
breathing  followed.  Of  them  all  that 
was  visible  was  four  feet  beating  a  tat- 
too on  the  road.  Miss  Forbes  got  out 
Winthrop's  camera,  and  took  a  snap- 
shot of  the  scene. 

"  I  will  caU  it,"  she  said,  "  The  Idle 
Rich." 

Brother  Sam  gazed  morosely  in  the 
direction  of  New  Haven.  They  had 
halted  within  fifty  yards  of  the  railroad 
tracks,  and  as  each  special  train,  loaded 
with  happy  enthusiasts,  raced  past  them 
he  groaned. 

"  The  only  one  of  us  that  showed 
any  common  sense  was  Ernest,"  he  de- 
clared, "  and  you  turned  him  down.  I 
am  going  to  take  a  trolley  to  Stamford, 
and  the  first  train  to  New  Haven." 

"  You  are  not,"  said  his  sister;  "  I 
will  not  desert  Mr.  Winthrop,  and  you 
cannot  desert  me." 
12 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

Brother  Sam  sighed,  and  seated  him- 
self on  a  rock. 

"  Do  you  think,  Billy,"  he  asked, 
"  you  can  get  us  to  Cambridge  in  time 
for  next  year's  game?  ' 

The  car  limped  into  Stamford,  and 
while  it  went  into  drydock  at  the  garage, 
Brother  Sam  fled  to  the  railroad  sta- 
tion, where  he  learned  that  for  the  next 
two  hours  no  train  that  recognized  New 
Haven  spoke  to  Stamford. 

"  That  being  so,"  said  Winthrop, 
"  while  we  are  waiting  for  the  car,  we 
had  better  get  a  quick  lunch  now,  and 
then -push  on." 

.  "  Push,"    exclaimed    Brother    Sam 
darkly,  "  is  what  we  are  likely  to  do." 

After  behaving  with  perfect  propri- 
ety for  half  an  hour,  just  outside  of 
Bridgeport  the  Scarlet  Car  came  to  a 
slow  and  sullen  stop,  and  once  more 
the  owner  and  the  chauffeur  hid  their 
13 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

shame  beneath  it,  and  attacked  its  vi- 
tals. Twenty  minutes  later,  while  they 
still  were  at  work,  there  approached 
from  Bridgeport  a  young  man  in  a 
buggy.  When  he  saw  the  mass  of  col- 
lege colors  on  the  Scarlet  Car,  he  pulled 
Ms  horse  down  to  a  walk,  and  as  he 
passed  raised  his  hat. 

"At  the  end  of  the  first  half,"  he 
said,  "  the  score  was  a  tie." 

"  Don't  mention  it,"  said  Brother 
Sam. 

"  Now,"  he  cried,  "  we've  got  to  turn 
back,  and  make  for  New  York.  If  we 
start  quick,  we  may  get  there  ahead  of 
the  last  car  to  leave  New  Haven." 

"  I  am  going  to  New  Haven,  and  in 
this  car,"  declared  his  sister.  "  I  must 
go — to  meet  Ernest." 

"  If  Ernest  has  as  much  sense  as  he 
showed  this  morning,"  returned  her 
affectionate  brother,  "  Ernest  will  go 
14 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

to  his  Pullman  and  stay  there.  As  I 
told  you,  the  only  sure  way  to  get  any- 
where is  by  railroad  train." 

When  they  passed  through  Bridge- 
port it  was  so  late  that  the  electric 
lights  of  Fairview  Avenue  were  just 
beginning  to  sputter  and  glow  in  the 
twilight,  and  as  they  came  along  the 
shore  road  into  New  Haven,  the  first 
car  out  of  New  Haven  in  the  race  back 
to  New  York  leaped  at  them  with  siren 
shrieks  of  warning,  and  dancing,  daz- 
zling eyes.  It  passed  like  a  thing  driven 
by  the  Furies;  and  before  the  Scarlet 
Car-  could  swing  back  into  what  had 
been  an  empty  road,  in  swift  pursuit 
of  the  first  came  many  more  cars,  with 
blinding  searchlights,  with  a  roar  of 
throbbing,  thrashing  engines,  flying 
pebbles,  and  whirling  wheels.  And  be- 
hind these,  stretching  for  a  twisted 
mile,  came  hundreds  of  others ;  until  the 
15 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

road  was  aflame  with  flashing  Will-o'- 
the-wisps,  dancing  fireballs,  and  long, 
shifting  shafts  of  light. 

Miss  Forbes  sat  in  front,  beside  Win- 
throp,  and  it  pleased  her  to  imagine,  as 
they  bent  forward,  peering  into  the 
night,  that  together  they  were  facing 
so  many  fiery  dragons,  speeding  to  give 
them  battle,  to  grind  them  under  their 
wheels.  She  felt  the  elation  of  great 
speed,  of  imminent  danger.  Her  blood 
tingled  with  the  air  from  the  wind- 
swept harbor,  with  the  rush  of  the 
great  engines,  as  by  a  handbreadth  they 
plunged  past  her.  She  knew  they  were 
driven  by  men  and  half-grown  boys, 
joyous  with  victory,  piqued  by  defeat, 
reckless  by  one  touch  too  much  of 
liquor,  and  that  the  young  man  at  her 
side  was  driving,  not  only  for  himself, 
but  for  them. 

Each  fraction  of  a  second  a  dazzling 
16 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

light  blinded  Mm,  and  he  swerved  to 
let  the  monster,  with  a  hoarse,  bellow- 
ing roar,  pass  by,  and  then  again  swept 
his  car  into  the  road.  And  each  time 
for  greater  confidence  she  glanced  up 
into  his  face. 

Throughout  the  mishaps  of  the  day 
he  had  been  deeply  concerned  for  her1 
comfort,  sorry  for  her  disappointment, 
under  Brother  Sam's  indignant  ironies 
patient,  and  at  all  times  gentle  and  con- 
siderate. Now,  in  the  light  from  the 
onrushing  cars,  she  noted  his  alert, 
laughing  eyes,  the  broad  shoulders  bent 
across -the  wheel,  the  lips  smiling  with 
excitement  and  in  the  joy  of  control- 
ling, with  a  turn  of  the  wrist,  a  power 
equal  to  sixty  galloping  horses.  She 
found  in  his  face  much  comfort.  And 
in  the  fact  that  for  the  moment  her 
safety  lay  in  his  hands,  a  sense  of  pleas- 
ure. That  this  was  her  feeling  puzzled 
17 


THE    SC'ARLET    CAR 

and  disturbed  her,  for  to  Ernest  Pea- 
body  it  seemed,  in  some  way,  disloyal. 
And  yet  there  it  was.  Of  a  certainty, 
there  was  the  secret  pleasure  in  the 
thought  that  if  they  escaped  unhurt 
from  the  trap  in  which  they  found 
themselves,  it  would  be  due  to  him.  To 
herself  she  argued  that  if  the  chauffeur 
were  driving,  her  feeling  would  be  the 
same,  that  it  was  the  nerve,  the  skill, 
and  the  coolness,  not  the  man,  that 
moved  her  admiration.  But  in  her 
heart  she  knew  it  would  not  be  the 
same. 

At  West  Haven  Green  Winthrop 
turned  out  of  the  track  of  the  racing 
monsters  into  a  quiet  street  leading  to 
the  railroad  station,  and  with  a  half- 
sigh,  half-laugh,  leaned  back  comfort- 
ably. 

"  Those  lights  coming  up  suddenly 

make  it  hard  to  see,"  he  said. 
18 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

"  Hard  to  breathe,"  snorted  Sam; 
"  since  that  first  car  missed  us,  I  haven't 
drawn  an  honest  breath.  I  held  on  so 
tight  that  I  squeezed  the  hair  out  of  the 
cushions." 

When  they  reached  the  railroad  sta- 
tion, and  Sam  had  finally  fought  his 
way  to  the  station  master,  that  half- 
crazed  official  informed  him  he  had 
missed  the  departure  of  Mrs.  Taylor 
Holbrooke's  car  by  just  ten  minutes. 

Brother  Sam  reported  this  state  of 
affairs  to  his  companions. 

"  God  knows  we  asked  for  the  fish 
first, "-he  said;  "  so  now  weVe  done 
our  duty  by  Ernest,  who  has  shamefully 
deserted  us,  and  we  can  get  something 
to  eat,  and  go  home  at  our  leisure.  As 
I  have  always  told  you,  the  only  way 
to  travel  independently  is  in  a  touring- 
car." 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

three  waiters,  body  and  soul,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  in  the  very  next 
room  the  team  was  breaking  training, 
obtained  an  excellent  but  chaotic  din- 
ner; and  by  eight  they  were  on  their 
way  back  to  the  big  city. 

The  night  was  grandly  beautiful. 
The  waters  of  the  Sound  flashed  in  the 
light  of  a  cold,  clear  moon,  which 
showed  them,  like  pictures  in  silver 
print,  the  sleeping  villages  through 
which  they  passed,  the  ancient  elms,  the 
low-roofed  cottages,  the  town  hall  fac- 
ing the  common.  The  post  road  was 
again  empty,  and  the  car  moved  as 
steadily  as  a  watch. 

"  Just  because  it  knows  we  don't  care 
now  when  we  get  there,"  said  Brother 
Sam,  "  you  couldn't  make  it  break 
down  with  an  axe." 

From  the  rear,  where  he  sat  with 
Fred,  he  announced  he  was  going  to 
20 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

sleep,  and  asked  that  lie  be  not  awak- 
ened until  the  car  had  crossed  the  State 
line  between  Connecticut  and  New 
York.  IWinthrop  doubted  if  he  knew 
the  State  line  of  New  York. 

"It  is  where  the  advertisements 
for  Besse  Baker's  twenty-seven  stores 
cease/ '  said  Sam  drowsily,  "  and  the 
billposters  of  Ethel  Barrymore  begin." 

In  the  front  of  the  car  the  two  young 
people  spoke  only  at  intervals,  but  Win- 
throp  had  never  been  so  widely  alert, 
so  keenly  happy,  never  before  so  con- 
scious of  her  presence. 

And  it  seemed  as  they  glided  through 
the  mysterious  moonlit  world  of  silent 
villages,  shadowy  woods,  and  wind- 
swept bays  and  inlets,  from  which,  as 
the  car  rattled  over  the  planks  of  the 
bridges,  the  wild  duck  rose  in  noisy 
circles,  they  alone  were  awake  and 
living. 

21 


The  silence  had  lasted  so  long  that 
it  was  as  eloquent  as  words.  The  young 
man  turned  his  eyes  timorously,  and 
sought  those  of  the  girl.  What  he  felt 
was  so  strong  in  him  that  it  seemed  in- 
credible she  should  be  ignorant  of  it. 
His  eyes  searched  the  gray  veil.  In 
his  voice  there  was  both  challenge  and 
pleading. 

"  *  Shall  be  together,' !  '  he  quoted, 
"  '  breathe  and  ride.  So,  one  day  more 
am  I  deified;  who  knows  but  the  world 
may  end  to-night1? ' 

The  moonlight  showed  the  girl's  eyes 
shining  through  the  veil,  and  regarding 
him  steadily. 

"  If  you  don't  stop  this  car  quick," 
she  said,  "  the  world  will  end  for  all 
of  us." 

He  shot  a  look  ahead,  and  so  suddenly 
threw  on  the  brake  that  Sam  and  the 
Chauffeur  tumbled  awake.  Across  the 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

road  stretched  the  great  bulk  of  a  tour- 
ing-car, its  lamps  burning  dully  in  the 
brilliance  of  the  moon.  Around  it,  for 
greater  warmth,  a  half-dozen  figures 
stamped  upon  the  frozen  ground,  and 
beat  themselves  with  their  arms.  Sam 
and  the  chauffeur  vaulted  into  the  road, 
and  went  toward  them. 

"  It's  what  you  say,  and  the  way  you 
say  it,"  the  girl  explained.  She  seemed 
to  be  continuing  an  argument.  "  It 
makes  it  so  very  difficult  for  us  to  play 
together." 

The  young  man  clasped  the  wheel  as 
though  the  force  he  were  holding  in 
check  were  much  greater  than  sixty 
horse-power. 

"  You  are  not  married  yet,  are  you?  ': 
he  demanded. 

The  girl  moved  her  head. 

"  And  when  you  are  married,  there 
will  probably  be  an  altar  from  which 
23 


you  will  turn  to  walk  back  up  the 
aisle  ?" 

"  Well  f  "  said  the  girl. 

"  Well,"  he  answered  explosively, 
"  until  you  turn  away  from  that  altar, 
I  do  not  recognize  the  right  of  any  man 
to  keep  me  quiet,  or  your  right  either. 
Why  should  I  be  held  by  your  engage- 
ment? I  was  not  consulted  about  it. 
I  did  not  give  my  consent,  did  I?  I 
tell  you,  you  are  the  only  woman  in  the 
world  I  will  ever  marry,  and  if  you 
think  I  am  going  to  keep  silent  and 
watch  some  one  else  carry  you  off  with- 
out making  a  fight  for  you,  you  don't 
know  me." 

"  If  you  go  on,"  said  the  girl,  "  it 
will  mean  that  I  shall  not  see  you 
again." 

11  Then  I  will  write  letters  to  you." 

"  I  will  not  read  them,"  said  the  girl. 

The  young  man  laughed  defiantly. 
24 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  will  read  them!  '  He 
pounded  his  gauntleted  fist  on  the  rim 
of  the  wheel.  "  You  mayn't  answer 
them,  but  if  I  can  write  the  way  I  feel, 
I  will  bet  you'll  read  them." 

His  voice  changed  suddenly,  and  he 
began  to  plead.  It  was  as  though  she 
were  some  masculine  giant  bullying  a 
small  boy. 

"  You  are  not  fair  to  me,"  he  pro- 
tested. "  I  do  not  ask  you  to  be  kind, 
I  ask  you  to  be  fair.  I  am  fighting  for 
what  means  more  to  me  than  anything 
in  this  world,  and  you  won't  even  lis- 
ten. .Why  should  I  recognize  any  other 
men?  All  I  recognize  is  that  I  am  the 
man  who  loves  you,  that  *  I  am  the  man 
at  your  feet.'  That  is  all  I  know,  that 
I  love  you." 

The  girl  moved  as  though  with  the 
cold,  and  turned  her  head  from 
him. 

25 


THE    SCARLET    &AR 

"  I  love  you,"  repeated  the  young 
man. 

The  girl  breathed  like  one  who  has 
been  swimming  under  water,  but,  when 
she  spoke,  her  voice  was  calm  and  con- 
tained. 

"  Please!  "  she  begged,  "  don't  you 
see  how  unfair  it  is.  I  can't  go  away; 
I  have  to  listen." 

The  young  man  pulled  himself  up- 
right, and  pressed  his  lips  together. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  whispered. 

There  was  for  some  time  an  unhappy 
silence,  and  then  Winthrop  added  bit- 
terly: "  '  Methinks  the  punishment  ex- 
ceeds the  offence.' 

"  Do  you  think  you  make  it  easy  for 
met  "  returned  the  girl. 

She  considered  it  most  ungenerous 

of  him  to  sit  staring  into  the  moonlight, 

looking  so  miserable  that  it  made  her 

heart  ache  to  comfort  him,  and  so  ex- 

26 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

tremely  handsome  that  to  do  so  was 
quite  impossible.  She  would  have 
liked  to  reach  out  her  hand  and  lay  it 
on  his  arm,  and  tell  him  she  was  sorry, 
but  she  could  not.  He  should  not  have 
looked  so  unnecessarily  handsome. 

Sam  came  running  toward  them  with 
five  grizzly  bears,  who  balanced  them- 
selves apparently  with  some  slight  ef- 
fort upon  their  hind  legs.  The  griz- 
zly bears  were  properly  presented  as: 
"  Tommy  Todd,  of  my  class,  and  some 
more  like  him.  And,  "continued  Sam, 
"  I  am  going  to  quit  you  two  and  go 
with  them.  Tom's  car  broke  down, 
but  Fred  fixed  it,  and  both  our  cars  can 
travel  together.  Sort  of  convoy,"  he 
explained. 

His  sister  signalled  eagerly,  but 
with  equal  eagerness  he  retreated  from 
her. 

"  Believe  me,"  he  assured  Eer  sooth- 
27 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

ingly,  "  I  am  just  as  good  a  chaperon 
fifty  yards  behind  you,  and  wide  awake, 
as  I  am  in  the  same  car  and  fast  asleep. 
And,  besides,  I  want  to  hear  about  the 
game.  And,  what's  more,  two  cars  are 
much  safer  than  one.  Suppose  you  two 
break  down  in  a  lonely  place?  We'll 
be  right  behind  you  to  pick  you  up. 
You  will  keep  Winthrop's  car  in  sight, 
won't  you,  Tommy?  "  he  said. 

The  grizzly  bear  called  Tommy,  who 
had  been  examining  the  Scarlet  Car, 
answered  doubtfully  that  the  only  way 
he  could  keep  it  in  sight  was  by  tying 
a  rope  to  it. 

"  That's  all  right,  then,"  said  Sam 
briskly,  "  Winthrop  will  go  slow." 

So  the  Scarlet  Car  shot  forward  with 
sometimes  the  second  car  so  far  in  the 
rear  that  they  could  only  faintly  dis- 
tinguish the  horn  begging  them  to  wait, 
and  again  it  would  follow  so  close  upon 
28 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

their  wheels  that  they  heard  the  five 
grizzly  bears  chanting  beseechingly: 

Oh,  bring  this  wagon  home,  John, 
It  will  not  hold  us  a-all. 

For  some  time  there  was  silence  in 
the  Scarlet  Car,  and  then  Winthrop 
broke  it  by  laughing. 

"  First,  I  lose  Peabody,"  he  ex- 
plained, "  then  I  lose  Sam,  and  now, 
after  I  throw  Fred  overboard,  I  am 
going  to  drive  you  into  Stamford,  where 
they  do  not  ask  runaway  couples  for  a 
license,  and  marry  you." 

The  girl  smiled  comfortably.  In  that 
mood  she  was  not  afraid  of  him. 

She  lifted  her  face,  and  stretched  out 
her  arms  as  though  she  were  drinking 
in  the  moonlight. 

"  It  has  been  such  a  good  day,"  she 
said  simply,  "  and  I  am  really  so  very 

happy." 

29 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

"  I  shall  be  equally  frank,"  said  Win- 
throp. "  So  am  I." 

For  two  hours  they  had  been  on  the 
road,  and  were  just  entering  Fairport. 
For  some  long  time  the  voices  of  the 
pursuing  grizzlies  had  been  lost  in  the 
far  distance. 

"  The  road's  up,"  said  Miss  Forbes. 

She  pointed  ahead  to  two  red  lan- 
terns. 

"  It  was  all  right  this  morning,"  ex- 
claimed Winthrop. 

The  car  was  pulled  down  to  eight 
miles  an  hour,  and,  trembling  and  snort- 
ing at  the  indignity,  nosed  up  to  the  red 
lanterns. 

They  showed  in  a  ruddy  glow  the  legs 
of  two  men. 

"  You  gotta  stop!'  commanded  a 
voice. 

"  Why?  "  asked  Winthrop. 

The  voice  became  embodied  in  the 
30 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

person  of  a  tall  man,  with  a  long  over- 
coat and  a  drooping  mustache. 

"  'Cause  I  tell  you  to!  "  snapped  the 
tall  man. 

Winthrop  threw  a  quick  glance  to  the 
rear.  In  that  direction  for  a  mile  the 
road  lay  straight  away.  He  could  see 
its  entire  length,  and  it  was  empty.  In 
thinking  of  nothing  but  Miss  Forbes, 
he  had  forgotten  the  chaperon.  He  was 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  a  chaperon  was  de- 
sirable. Directly  in  front  of  the  car, 
blocking  its  advance,  were  two  barrels, 
with  a  two-inch  plank  sagging  heavily 
between  them.  Beyond  that  the  main 
street  of  Fairport  lay  steeped  in  slum- 
ber and  moonlight. 

"  I  am  a  selectman,"  said  the  one 
with  the  lantern.  "  You  been  exceedin' 
our  speed  limit." 

The  chauffeur  gave  a  gasp  that  might 
31 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

have  been  construed  to  mean  that  the 
charge  amazed  and  shocked  him. 

"  That  is  not  possible,"  Winthrop 
answered.  "  I  have  been  going  very 
slow — on  purpose — to  allow  a  disabled 
car  to  keep  up  with  me. ' ' 

The  selectman  looked  down  the  road. 

"  It  ain't  kep'  up  with  you,"  he  said 
pointedly. 

"  It  has  until  the  last  few  minutes." 

"  It's  the  last  few  minutes  we're  talk- 
ing about,"  returned  the  man  who  had 
not  spoken.  He  put  his  foot  on  the  step 
of  the  car. 

"  What  are  you  doing?  "  asked  Win- 
throp. 

"  I  am  going  to  take  you  to  Judge 
Allen's.  I  am  chief  of  police.  You  are 
under  arrest." 

Before  Winthrop  rose  moving  pict- 
ures of  Miss  Forbes  appearing  in  a 
dirty  police  station  before  an  officious 
32 


mi 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

Dogberry,  and,  as  he  and  his  car  were 
well  known  along  the  post  road,  appear- 
ing the  next  morning  in  the  New  York 
papers.  "  William  Winthrop,"  he  saw 
the  printed  words,  "  son  of  Endicott 
Winthrop,  was  arrested  here  this  even- 
ing, with  a  young  woman  who  refused 
to  give  her  name,  but  who  was  recog- 
nized as  Miss  Beatrice  Forbes,  whose 
engagement  to  Ernest  Peabody,  the  Re- 
form candidate  on  the  Independent 
ticket " 

And,  of  course,  Peabody  would  blame 
her. 

"  If  I  have  exceeded  your  speed  lim- 
it," he  said  politely,  "  I  shall  be  de- 
lighted to  pay  the  fine.  How  much  is 
itt" 

"  Judge  Allen '11  tell  you  what  the 
'fine  is,"  said  the  selectman  gruffly. 
"  And  he  may  want  bail." 

"  Bail  ?  "  demanded  Winthrop.  ' '  Do 
33 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

you  mean  to  tell  me  he  will  detain  us 
here?" 

"  He  will,  if  he  wants  to,"  answered 
the  chief  of  police  combatively. 

For  an  instant  Winthrop  sat  gazing 
gloomily  ahead,  overcome  apparently 
by  the  enormity  of  his  offence.  He  was 
calculating  whether,  if  he  rammed  the 
two-inch  plank,  it  would  hit  the  car  or 
Miss  Forbes.  He  decided  swiftly  it 
would  hit  his  new  two-hundred-dollar 
lamps.  As  swiftly  he  decided  the  new 
lamps  must  go.  But  he  had  read 
of  guardians  of  the  public  safety 
so  regardless  of  private  safety  as  to 
try  to  puncture  runaway  tires  with 
pistol  bullets.  He  had  no  intention 
of  subjecting  Miss  Forbes  to  a  fusil- 
lade. 

So  he  whirled  upon  the  chief  of 
police : 

"  Take  your  hand  off  that  gun!  "  he 
34 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

growled.  "  How  dare  you  threaten 
me?  " 

Amazed,  the  chief  of  police  dropped 
from  the  step  and  advanced  indig- 
nantly. 

"  Me?  "  he  demanded.  "  I  ain't  got 
a  gun.  What  you  mean  by— 

With  sudden  intelligence,  the  chauf- 
feur precipitated  himself  upon  the 
scene. 

"It's  the  other  one,"  he  shouted. 
He  shook  an  accusing  finger  at  the  se- 
lectman. "  He  pointed  it  at  the  lady." 

To  Miss  Forbes  the  realism  of  Fred's 
acting  was  too  convincing.  To  learn 
that  one  is  covered  with  a  loaded  revol- 
ver is  disconcerting.  Miss  Forbes  gave 
a  startled  squeak,  and  ducked  her 
head. 

Winthrop  roared  aloud  at  the  select- 
man. - 

"  How  dare  you  frighten  the  lady! ': 
35 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

he  cried.  "  Take  your  hand  off  that 
gun." 

"  What  you  talkin'  about?  "  shouted 
the  selectman.  "  The  idea  of  my  havin' 
a  gun!  I  haven't  got  a " 

"  All  right,  Fred!  "  cried  Winthrop. 
"  Low  bridge." 

There  was  a  crash  of  shattered  glass 
and  brass,  of  scattered  barrel  staves, 
the  smell  of  escaping  gas,  and  the  Scar- 
let Car  was  flying  drunkenly  down  the 
main  street. 

"  What  are  they  doing  now,  Fred?  " 
called  the  owner. 

Fred  peered  over  the  stern  of  the  fly- 
ing car. 

"  The  constable's  jumping  around 
the  road,"  he  replied,  "  and  the  long 
one's  leaning  against  a  tree.  No,  he's 
climbing  the  tree.  I  can't  make  out 
what  he's  doing." 

"  I  know!  "  cried  Miss  Forbes;  her 
36 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

voice  vibrated  with  excitement.  De- 
fiance of  the  law  had  thrilled  her  with' 
unsuspected  satisfaction ;  her  eyes  were 
dancing.  ' (  There  was  a  telephone  fast- 
ened to  the  tree,  a  hand  telephone. 
They  are  sending  word  to  some  one. 
They're  trying  to  head  us  off." 

Winthrop  brought  the  car  to  a  quick 
halt. 

"  We're  in  a  police  trap!  "  he  said. 
Fred  leaned  forward  and  whispered  to 
his  employer.  His  voice  also  vibrated 
with  the  joy  of  the  chase. 

"  This '11  be  our  third  arrest,"  he 
said.  "  That  means— 

"I  know  what  it  means,"  snapped 
Winthrop.  "  Tell  me  how  we  can  get 
out  of  here." 

"  We  can't  get  out  of  here,  sir,  un- 
less we  go  back.  Going  south,  the 
bridge  is  the  only  way  out." 

"The  bridge!"  Winthrop  struck 
37 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

the  wheel  savagely  with  his  knuckles. 
"  I  forgot  their  confounded  bridge! ' 
He  turned  to  Miss  Forbes.     "  Fair- 
port    is    a    sort    of    island,"    he    ex- 
plained. 

"  But  after  we're  across  the  bridge," 
urged  the  chauffeur,  "  we  needn't  keep 
to  the  post  road  no  more.  We  can  turn 
into  Stone  Ridge,  and  strike  south  to 
White  Plains.  Then " 

"  We  haven't  crossed  the  bridge  yet," 
growled  Winthrop.  His  voice  had  none 
of  the  joy  of  the  others ;  he  was  greatly 
perturbed.  "  Look  back,"  he  com- 
manded, "  and  see  if  there  is  any  sign 
of  those  boys." 

He  was  now  quite  willing  to  share 
responsibility.  But  there  was  no  sign 
of  the  Yale  men,  and,  unattended,  the 
Scarlet  Car  crept  warily  forward. 
Ahead  of  it,  across  the  little  reed-grown 
inlet,  stretched  their  road  of  escape,  a 
38 


TEE    JAIL-BEE AKERS 

long  wooden  bridge,  lying  white  in  the 
moonlight. 

"  I  don't  see  a  soul/'  whispered  Miss 
Forbes. 

"Anybody  at  that  draw?''  asked 
Winthrop.  Unconsciously  his  voice 
also  had  sunk  to  a  whisper. 

"No,  "returned  Fred.  "  I  think  the 
man  that  tends  the  draw  goes  home  at 
night;  there  is  no  light  there." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Winthrop,  with 
an  anxious  sigh,  "  we've  got  to  make 
a  dash  for  it." 

The  car  shot  forward,  and,  as  it 
leaped  lightly  upon  the  bridge,  there 
was  a  rapid  rumble  of  creaking  boards. 

Between  it  and  the  highway  to  New 
York  lay  only  two  hundred  yards  of 
track,  straight  and  empty. 

In  his  excitement,  the  chauffeur  rose 
from  the  rear  seat. 

"  They'll  never  catch  us  now," 
39 


THE    SC.ARLET    CAR 

he  muttered.  "  They'll  never  catch 
us!" 

But  even  as  he  spoke  there  grated 
harshly  the  creak  of  rusty  chains  on 
a  cogged  wheel,  the  rattle  of  a  brake. 
The  black  figure  of  a  man  with  waving 
arms  ran  out  upon  the  draw,  and  the 
draw  gaped  slowly  open. 

tWhen  the  car  halted  there  was  be- 
tween it  and  the  broken  edge  of  the 
bridge  twenty  feet  of  running  water. 

rAt  the  same  moment  from  behind  it 
came  a  patter  of  feet,  and  Winthrop 
turned  to  see  racing  toward  them  some 
dozen  young  men  of  Fairport.  They 
surrounded  him  with  noisy,  raucous, 
belligerent  cries.  They  were,  as  they 
proudly  informed  him,  members  of  the 
Fairport  "  Volunteer  Fire  Depart- 
ment." That  they  might  purchase  new 
uniforms,  they  had  arranged  a  trap  for 
the  automobiles  returning  in  illegal 
40 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

haste  from  New  Haven.  In  fines  they 
had  collected  $300,  and  it  was  evident 
that  already  some  of  that  money  had 
been  expended  in  bad  whiskey.  As 
many  as  could  do  so  crowded  into  the 
car,  others  hung  to  the  running  boards 
and  step,  others  ran  beside  it.  They 
rejoiced  over  Winthrop's  unsuccessful 
flight  and  capture  with  violent  and 
humiliating  laughter. 

For  the  day,  Judge  Allen  had  made 
a  temporary  court  in  the  clubroom  of 
the  fire  department,  which  was  over  the 
engine  house ;  and  the  proceedings  were 
brief  and  decisive.  The  selectman  told 
how  Winthrop,  after  first  breaking  the 
speed  law,  had  broken  arrest,  and  Judge 
Allen,  refusing  to  fine  him  and  let  him 
go,  held  him  and  his  companions  for 
a  hearing  the  following  morning.  He 
fixed  the  amount  of  bail  at  $500  each; 
failing  to  pay  this,  they  would  for  the 
41 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

night  be  locked  up  in  different  parts 
of  the  engine  house,  which,  it  devel- 
oped, contained  on  the  ground  floor  the 
home  of  the  fire  engine,  on  the  second 
floor  the  clubroom,  on  alternate  nights, 
of  the  firemen,  the  local  GL  A.  R.,  and 
the  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  in  its  cellar 
the  town  jail. 

Winthrop  and  the  chauffeur  the 
learned  judge  condemned  to  the  cells 
in  the  basement.  As  a  concession,  he 
granted  Miss  Forbes  the  freedom  of  the 
entire  clubroom  to  herself. 

The  objections  raised  by  Winthrop 
to  this  arrangement  were  of  a  nature 
so  violent,  so  vigorous,  at  one  moment 
so  specious  and  conciliatory,  and  the 
next  so  abusive,  that  his  listeners  were 
moved  by  awe,  but  not  to  pity. 

In  his  indignation,  Judge  Allen  rose 
to  reply,  and  as,  the  better  to  hear  him, 
the  crowd  pushed  forward,  Fred  gave 
42 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

way  before  it,  until  lie  was  left  stand- 
ing in  sullen  gloom  upon  its  outer  edge. 
In  imitation  of  the  real  firemen  of  the 
great  cities,  the  vamps  of  Fairport  had 
cut  a  circular  hole  in  the  floor  of  their 
clubroom,  and  from  the  engine  room 
below  had  reared  a  sliding  pole  of  shin- 
ing brass.  When  leaving  their  club- 
room,  it  was  always  their  pleasure  to 
scorn  the  stairs  and,  like  real  firemen, 
slide  down  this  pole.  It  had  not  es- 
caped the  notice  of  Fred,  and  since  his 
entrance  he  had  been  gravitating  tow- 
ard it. 

As  the  voice  of  the  judge  rose  in 
violent  objurgation,  and  all  eyes  were 
fixed  upon  him,  the  chauffeur  crooked 
his  leg  tightly  about  the  brass  pole,  and, 
like  the  devil  in  the  pantomime,  sank 
softly  and  swiftly  through  the  floor. 

The  irate  judge  was  shaking  his  fin- 
ger in  Winthrop's  face. 
43 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

11  Don't  you  try  to  teach  me  no  law," 
he  shouted;  "  I  know  what  I  can  do. 
Ef  my  darter  went  gallivantin'  around 
nights  in  one  of  them  automobiles,  it 
would  serve  her  right  to  get  locked  up. 
Maybe  this  young  woman  will  learn  to 
stay  at  home  nights  with  her  folks. 
She  ain't  goin'  to  take  no  harm  here. 
The  constable  sits  up  all  night  down- 
stairs in  the  fire  engine  room,  and  that 
sofa's  as  good  a  place  to  sleep  as  the 
hotel.  If  you  want  me  to  let  her  go  to 
the  hotel,  why  don't  you  send  to  your 
folks  and  bail  her  out?  ' 

"  You  know  damn  well  why  I  don't," 
returned  Winthrop.  "  I  don't  intend 
to  give  the  newspapers  and  you  and 
these  other  idiots  the  chance  to  annoy 
her  further.  This  young  lady's  brother 
has  been  with  us  all  day ;  he  left  us  only 
by  accident,  and  by  forcing  her  to  re- 
main here  alone  you  are  acting  outra- 
44 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

geously.  If  you  knew  anything  of  de- 
cency, or  law,  you'd— 

"  I  know  this  much!  "  roared  the 
justice  triumphantly,  pointing  his  spec- 
tacle-case at  Miss  Forbes.  "  I  know 
her  name  ain't  Lizzie  B  or  den,  and 
yours  ain't  Charley  Ross." 

Winthrop  crossed  to  where  Miss 
Forbes  stood  in  a  corner.  She  still 
wore  her  veil,  but  through  it,  though 
her  face  was  pale,  she  smiled  at  him. 

His  own  distress  was  undisguised. 

"  I  can  never  forgive  myself,"  he 
said. 

"Nonsense!'  replied  Miss  Forbes 
briskly.  "  You  were  perfectly  right. 
If  we  had  sent  for  any  one,  it  would 
have  had  to  come  out.  Now,  we'll  pay 
the  fine  in  the  morning  and  get  home, 
and  no  one  will  know  anything  of  it 
excepting  the  family  and  Mr.  Peabody, 
and  they'll  understand.  But  if  I  ever 
45 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

lay  hands  on  my  brother  Sam!  '  —she 
clasped  her  fingers  together  helplessly. 
"  To  think  of  his  leaving  you  to  spend 
the  night  in  a  cell 

Winthrop  interrupted  her. 

"  I  will  get  one  of  these  men  to  send 
his  wife  or  sister  over  to  stay  with 
you,"  he  said. 

But  Miss  Forbes  protested  that  she 
did  not  want  a  companion.  The  con- 
stable would  protect  her,  she  said,  and 
she  would  sit  up  all  night  and  read. 
She  nodded  at  the  periodicals  on  the 
club  table. 

"  This  is  the  only  chance  I  may  ever 
have,"  she  said,  "  to  read  the  '  Police 
Gazette  '!  " 

"  You  ready  there?  "  called  the  con- 
stable. 

"  Good-night,"  said  Winthrop. 

Under  the  eyes  of  the  grinning  yo- 
kels, they  shook  hands. 
46 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

"  Good-night,"  said  the  girl. 

"  .Where's  your  young  man?'1'  de- 
manded the  chief  of  police. 

"  My  what?  "  inquired  Winthrop. 

"  The  young  fellow  that  was  with 
you  when  we  held  you  up  that  first 
time." 

The  constable,  or  the  chief  of  police 
as  he  called  himself,  on  the  principle 
that  if  there  were  only  one  policeman 
he  must  necessarily  be  the  chief,  glanced 
hastily  over  the  heads  of  the  crowd. 

"  Any  of  you  holding  that  shoffer?  ' 
he  called. 

No  one  was  holding  the  chauffeur. 

The  chauffeur  had  vanished. 

The  cell  to  which  the  constable  led 
Winthrop  was  in  a  corner  of  the  cellar 
in  which  formerly  coal  had  been  stored. 
This  corner  was  now  fenced  off  with 
boards,  and  a  wooden  door  with  chain 

and  padlock. 

47 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

High  in  the  wall,  on  a  level  with  the 
ground,  was  the  opening,  or  window, 
through  which  the  coal  had  been 
dumped.  This  window  now  was  barri- 
caded with  iron  bars.  Winthrop  tested 
the  door  by  shaking  it,  and  landed  a 
heavy  kick  on  one  of  the  hinges.  It 
gave  slightly,  and  emitted  a  feeble 
groan. 

"  What  you  tryin'  to  do  ?  "  demanded 
the  constable.  "  That's  town  prop- 
erty." 

In  the  light  of  the  constable's  lantern, 
Winthrop  surveyed  his  cell  with  ex- 
treme dissatisfaction. 

"  I  call  this  a  cheap  cell,"  he  said. 

"  It's  good  enough  for  a  cheap 
sport,"  returned  the  constable.  It  was 
so  overwhelming  a  retort  that  after  the 
constable  had  turned  the  key  in  the 
padlock,  and  taken  himself  and  his  lan- 
tern to  the  floor  above,  Winthrop  could 
48  ' 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

hear  him  repeating  it  to  the  volunteer 
firemen.  They  received  it  with  delight- 
ed howls. 

For  an  hour,  on  the  three  empty 
boxes  that  formed  his  bed,  Winthrop 
sat,  with  his  chin  on  his  fists,  planning 
the  nameless  atrocities  he  would  inflict 
upon  the  village  of  Fairport.  Com- 
pared to  his  tortures,  those  of  Neurem- 
berg  were  merely  reprimands.  Also  he 
considered  the  particular  punishment 
he  would  mete  out  to  Sam  Forbes  for 
his  desertion  of  his  sister,  and  to  Fred. 
He  could  not  understand  Fred.  It  was 
not  like  the  chauffeur  to  think  only  of 
himself.  Nevertheless,  for  abandoning 
Miss  Forbes  in  the  hour  of  need,  Fred 
must  be  discharged.  He  had,  with 
some  regret,  determined  upon  this  dis- 
cipline, when  from  directly  over  his 
head  the  voice  of  Fred  hailed  him 
cautiously. 

49 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

"  Mr.  Winthrop,"  the  voice  called, 
"  are  you  there?  ' 

To  Winthrop  the  question  seemed 
superfluous.  He  jumped  to  his  feet, 
and  peered  up  into  the  darkness. 

"  Where  are  you®  "  he  demanded. 

"  At  the  window,'7  came  the  answer. 
"  We're  in  the  back  yard.  Mr.  Sam 
wants  to  speak  to  you." 

On  Miss  Forbes 's  account,  Winthrop 
gave  a  gasp  of  relief.  On  his  own,  one 
of  savage  satisfaction. 

"  And  I  want  to  speak  to  him  I  "  he 
whispered. 

The  moonlight,  which  had  been  faint- 
ly shining  through  the  iron  bars  of  the 
coal  chute,  was  eclipsed  by  a  head  and 
shoulders.  The  comfortable  voice  of 
Sam  Forbes  greeted  him  in  a  playful 
whisper. 

"  Hullo,  Billy!    You  down  there?  " 

"  Where  the  devil  did  you  think  I 
50 


The  moonlight  was  eclipsed  by  a  head  and  shoulders 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 


1  Winthrop  answered  at  white 
heat.  "  Let  me  tell  you  if  I  was  not 
down  here  I'd  be  punching  your 
head." 

"  That's  all  right,  Billy,"  Sam  an- 
swered soothingly.  "  But  I'll  save  you 
just  the  same.  It  shall  never  be  said 
of  Sam  Forbes  he  deserted  a  com- 
rade— 

"  Stop  that!  Do  you  know,"  Win- 
throp demanded  fiercely,  "  that  your 
sister  is  a  prisoner  upstairs?  ' 

"  I  do,"  replied  the  unfeeling  broth- 
er," but  she  won't  be  long.  All  the  low- 
comedy  parts  are  out  now  arranging  a 
rescue." 

i  l  Who  are  f  Todd  and  those  boys  ?  '  ' 
demanded  Winthrop.  "  They  mustn't 
think  of  it  !  They'll  only  make  it  worse. 
It  is  impossible  to  get  your  sister  out 
of  here  with  those  drunken  firemen 
in  the  building.  You  must  wait  till 
51 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

they've  gone  home.  Do  you  hear 
me?" 

"  Pardon  me  I  "  returned  Sam  stiff- 
ly, "  but  this  is  my  relief  expedition. 
I  have  sent  two  of  the  boys  to  hold  the 
bridge,  like  Horatius,  and  two  to  guard 
the  motors,  and  the  others  are  going  to 
entice  the  firemen  away  from  the  engine 
house." 

"  Entice  them?  How?  "  demanded 
Winthrop.  "  They're  drunk,  and  they 
won't  leave  here  till  morning." 

Outside  the  engine  house,  suspended 
from  a  heavy  cross-bar,  was  a  steel  rail 
borrowed  from  a  railroad  track,  and 
bent  into  a  hoop.  When  hit  with  a 
sledge-hammer  it  proclaimed  to  Fair- 
port  that  the  "  consuming  element ': 
was  at  large. 

At  the  moment  Winthrop  asked  his 
question,  over  the  village  of  Fairport 

and  over  the  bay  and  marshes,  and  far 
52 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

out  across  the  Sound,  the  great  steel 
bar  sent  forth  a  shuddering  boom  of 
warning. 

From  the  room  above  came  a  wild 
tumult  of  joyous  yells. 

"  Fire! '  shrieked  the  vamps, 
"fire!" 

The  two  men  crouching  by  the  cellar 
window  heard  the  rush  of  feet,  the  en- 
gine banging  and  bumping  across  the 
sidewalk,  its  brass  bell  clanking  crazily, 
the  happy  vamps  shouting  hoarse,  in- 
coherent orders. 

Through  the  window  Sam  lowered  a 
bag  of  tools  he  had  taken  from  iWin- 
throp's  car. 

"  Can  you  open  the  lock  with  any  of 
these?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  can  kick  it  open!  "  yelled  Win- 
throp  joyfully.  "  Get  to  your  sister, 
quick! '" 

He  threw  his  shoulder  against  the 
53 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

door,  and  the  staples  flying  before  him 
sent  him  sprawling  in  the  coal-dust. 
When  he  reached  the  head  of  the  stairs, 
Beatrice  Forbes  was  descending  from 
the  clubroom,  and  in  front  of  the  door 
the  two  cars,  with  their  lamps  unlit  and 
numbers  hidden,  were  panting  to  be 
free. 

And  in  the  North,  reaching  to  the 
sky,  rose  a  roaring  column  of  flame, 
shameless  in  the  pale  moonlight,  drag- 
ging into  naked  day  the  sleeping  vil- 
lage, the  shingled  houses,  the  clock-face 
in  the  church  steeple. 

"  What  the  devil  have  you  done?  r 
gasped  Winthrop. 

Before  he  answered,  Sam  waited  until 
the  cars  were  rattling  to  safety  across 
the  bridge. 

"  We  have  been  protecting  the  face 
of  nature, "  he  shouted.  "  The  only 
way  to  get  that  gang  out  of  the  engine 
54 


THE    JAIL-BREAKERS 

house  was  to  set  fire  to  something. 
Tommy  wanted  to  burn  up  the  railroad 
station,  because  he  doesn't  like  the  New 
York  and  New  Haven,  and  Fred  was 
for  setting  fire  to  Judge  Allen's  house, 
because  he  was  rude  to  Beatrice.  But 
we  finally  formed  the  Village  Improve- 
ment Society,  organized  to  burn  all  ad- 
vertising signs.  You  know  those  that 
stood  in  the  marshes,  and  hid  the  view 
from  the  trains,  so  that  you  could 
not  see  the  Sound.  "We  chopped  them 
down  and  put  them  in  a  pile,  and 
poured  gasolene  on  them,  and  that  fire 
is  all  that  is  left  of  the  pickles,  fly- 
screens,  and  pills." 

It  was  midnight  when  the  cars  drew 
up  at  the  door  of  the  house  of  Forbes. 
'Anxiously  waiting  in  the  library  were 
Mrs.  Forbes  and  Ernest  Peabody. 

"  At  last!  "  cried  Mrs.  Forbes,  smil- 
ing her  relief; "  we  thought  maybe  Sam 
55 


THE    SCARLET    WAR 

and  you  had  decided  to  spend  the  night 
in  New  Haven." 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Forbes,  "  there  was 
some  talk  about  spending  the  night  at 
Fairport,  but  we  pushed  right  on." 


56 


II 

THE    TRESPASSERS 

WITH  a  long,  nervous  shudder,  the 
Scarlet  Car  came  to  a  stop,  and 
the  lamps  bored  a  round  hole  in  the 
night,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  encircling 
world  in  a  chill  and  silent  darkness. 

The  lamps  showed  a  flickering  pict- 
ure of  a  country  road  between  high 
banks  covered  with  loose  stones,  and 
overhead,  a  fringe  of  pine  boughs. 
It  looked  like  a  colored  photograph 
thrown  from  a  stereopticon  in  a  dark- 
ened theater. 

From  the  back  of  the  car  the  voice 

of  the  owner  said  briskly:  "  We  will 

now  sing  that  beautiful  ballad  entitled 

*  He  Is  Sleeping  in  the  (Yukon  Vale 

57 


To-night/  What  are  you  stopping  for, 
Fred?  "  he  asked. 

The  tone  of  the  chauffeur  suggested 
he  was  again  upon  the  defensive. 

"  For  water,  sir,"  he  mumbled. 

Miss  Forbes  in  the  front  seat  laughed, 
and  her  brother  in  the  rear  seat,  groaned 
in  dismay. 

"  Oh,  for  water?  "  said  the  owner 
cordially.  "  I  thought  maybe  it  was 
for  coal." 

Save  a  dignified  silence,  there  was  no 
answer  to  this,  until  there  came  a  roll- 
ing of  loose  stones  and  the  sound  of  a 
heavy  body  suddenly  precipitated  down 
the  bank,  and  landing  with  a  thump  in 
the  road. 

"  He  didn't  get  the  water,"  said  the 
owner  sadly. 

"  Are  you  hurt,  Fred?  "  asked  the 
girl. 

The  chauffeur  limped  in  front  of  the 
58 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

lamps,    appearing    suddenly,    like    an 
actor  stepping  into  the  limelight. 

"  No,  ma'am,"  he  said.  In  the  rays 
of  the  lamp,  he  unfolded  a  road  map 
and  scowled  at  it.  He  shook  his  head 
aggrievedly. 

"  There  ought  to  be  a  house  just 
about  here,"  he  explained. 

"  There  ought  to  be  a  hotel  and  a 
garage,  and  a  cold  supper,  just  about 
here,"  said  the  girl  cheerfully. 

"  That's  the  way  with  those  houses," 
complained  the  owner.  "  They  never 
stay  where  they're  put.  At  night  they 
go  around  and  visit  each  other.  .Where 
do  you  think  you  are,  Fred?  ' 

"  I  think  we 're.  in  that  long  woods, 
between  Loon  Lake  and  Stoughton  on 
the  Boston  Pike,"  said  the  chauffeur, 
"  and,"  he  reiterated,  "  there  ought  to 
be  a  house  somewhere  about  here — 
where  we  get  water." 
59 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

"  Well,  get  there,  then,  and  get  the 
water,"  commanded  the  owner. 

"  But  I  can't  get  there,  sir,  till  I 
get  the  water, "  returned  the  chauf- 
feur. 

He  shook  out  two  collapsible  buck- 
ets, and  started  down  the  shaft  of 
light. 

"  I  won't  be  more  nor  five  minutes," 
he  called. 

"I'm  going  with  him,"  said  the  girl, 
"  I'm  cold." 

She  stepped  down  from  the  front 
seat,  and  the  owner  with  sudden  alac- 
rity vaulted  the  door  and  started  after 
her. 

"  You  coming?  "  he  inquired  of  Er- 
nest Peabody.  But  Ernest  Peabody 
being  soundly  asleep  made  no  reply. 
"Winthrop  turned  to  Sam.  "  Are  you 
coming?  "  he  repeated. 

The  tone  of  the  invitation  seemed  to 
60 


•There  ought  to  be  a  house  just  about  here 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

suggest  that  a  refusal  would  not  neces- 
sarily lead  to  a  quarrel. 

"I  am  not  I'  said  the  brother. 
"  You've  kept  Peabody  and  me  twelve 
hours  in  the  open  air,  and  it's  past  two, 
and  we're  going  to  sleep.  You  can  take 
it  from  me  that  we  are  going  to  spend 
the  rest  of  this  night  here  in  this  road." 

He  moved  his  cramped  joints  cau- 
tiously, and  stretched  his  legs  the  full 
width  of  the  car. 

"  If  you  can't  get  plain  water,"  he 
called,  "  get  club  soda." 

He  buried  his  nose  in  the  collar  of 
his  fur  coat,  and  the  odors  of  camphor 
and  raccoon  skins  instantly  assailed 
him,  but  he  only  yawned  luxuriously 
and  disappeared  into  the  coat  as  a 
turtle  draws  into  its  shell.  From  the 
woods  about  him  the  smell  of  the  pine 
needles  pressed  upon  him  like  a  drug, 
and  before  the  footsteps  of  his  com- 
61 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

pardons  were  lost  in  the  silence  he  was 
asleep.  But  his  sleep  was  only  a  re- 
view of  his  waking  hours.  Still  on 
either  hand  rose  flying  dust  clouds  and 
twirling  leaves;  still  on  either  side 
raced  gray  stone  walls,  telegraph  poles, 
hills  rich  in  autumn  colors ;  and  before 
him  a  long  white  road,  unending,  inter- 
minable, stretching  out  finally  into  a 
darkness  lit  by  flashing  shop-windows, 
like  open  fireplaces,  by  street  lamps,  by 
swinging  electric  globes,  by  the  blinding 
searchlights  of  hundreds  of  darting 
trolley  cars  with  terrifying  gongs,  and 
then  a  cold  white  mist,  and  again  on 
every  side,  darkness,  except  where  the 
four  great  lamps  blazed  a  path  through 
stretches  of  ghostly  woods. 

As  the  two  young  men  slumbered,  the 

lamps  spluttered  and  sizzled  like  bacon 

in  a  frying-pan,  a  stone  rolled  noisily 

down  the  bank,  a  white  owl,  both  ap- 

62 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

palled  and  fascinated  by  the  dazzling 
eyes  of  the  monster  blocking  the  road, 
hooted,  and  flapped  itself  away.  But 
the  men  in  the  car  only  shivered  slight- 
ly, deep  in  the  sleep  of  utter  weariness. 

In  silence  the  girl  and  Winthrop  fol- 
lowed the  chauffeur.  They  had  passed 
out  of  the  light  of  the  lamps,  and  in 
the  autumn  mist  the  electric  torch  of 
the  owner  was  as  ineffective  as  a  glow- 
worm. The  mystery  of  the  forest  fell 
heavily  upon  them.  From  their  feet 
the  dead  leaves  sent  up  a  clean,  damp 
odor,  and  on  either  side  and  overhead 
the.  giant  pine  trees  whispered  and  rus- 
tled in  the  night  wind. 

"  Take  my  coat,  too,"  said  the  young 
man.  "  You'll  catch  cold."  He  spoke 
with  authority  and  began  to  slip  the 
loops  from  the  big  horn  buttons.  It 
was  not  the  habit  of  the  girl  to  consider 
her  health.  Nor  did  she  permit  the 
63 


THE    SC'ARLET    CAR 

members  of  her  family  to  show  solici- 
tude concerning  it.  But  the  anxiety  of 
the  young  man  did  not  seem  to  of- 
fend her.  She  thanked  him  generous- 
ly. "  No;  these  coats  are  hard  to  walk 
in,  and  I  want  to  walk,"  she  exclaimed. 
"  I  like  to  hear  the  leaves  rustle  when 
you  kick  them,  don't  you?  When  I 
was  so  high,  I  used  to  pretend  it  was 
wading  in  the  surf." 

The  young  man  moved  over  to  the 
gutter  of  the  road  where  the  leaves 
were  deepest  and  kicked  violently. 
"  And  the  more  noise  you  make,"  he 
said,  "  the  more  you  frighten  away  the 
wild  animals." 

The  girl  shuddered  in  a  most  help- 
less and  fascinating  fashion. 

"  Don't !  "  she  whispered.  "  I  didn't 
mention  it,  but  already  I  have  seen  sev- 
eral lions  crouching  behind  the  trees." 

"  Indeed  ?  "  said  the  young  man.  His 
64 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

tone  was  preoccupied.  He  had  just 
kicked  a  rock,  hidden  by  the  leaves,  and 
was  standing  on  one  leg. 

"  Do  you  mean  you  don't  believe 
me?  "  asked  the  girl,  "  or  is  it  that  you 
are  merely  brave?  ' 

"  Merely  brave!  '  exclaimed  the 
young  man.  Massachusetts  is  so  far 
north  for  lions,"  he  continued,  "  that 
I  fancy  what  you  saw  was  a  grizzly 
bear.  But  I  have  my  trusty  electric 
torch  with  me,  and  if  there  is  anything 
a  bear  cannot  abide,  it  is  to  be  pointed 
at  by  an  electric  torch." 

".Let  us  pretend,"  cried  the  girl, 
"  that  we  are  the  babes  in  the  wood,  and 
that  we  are  lost." 

"  We  don't  have  to  pretend  we're 
lost,"  said  the  man,  "  and  as  I  remem- 
ber it,  the  babes  came  to  a  sad  end. 
Didn't  they  die,  and  didn't  the  birds 
bury  them  with  leaves?  ' 
65 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

"  Sam  and  Mr.  Peabody  can  be  the 
birds,"  suggested  the  girl. 

"  Sam  and  Peabody  hopping  around 
with  leaves  in  their  teeth  would  look 
silly,"  objected  the  man,  "  I  doubt  if 
I  could  keep  from  laughing." 

"  Then,"  said  the  girl,  "  they  can  be 
the  wicked  robbers  who  came  to  kill  the 
babes." 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  man  with  sus- 
picious alacrity,  "  let  us  be  babes.  If 
I  have  to  die,"  he  went  on  heartily,  "  I 
would  rather  die  with  you  than  live 
with  any  one  else." 

When  he  had  spoken,  although  they 
were  entirely  alone  in  the  world  and 
quite  near  to  each  other,  it  was  as 
though  the  girl  could  not  hear  him,  even 
as  though  he  had  not  spoken  at  all. 
After  a  silence,  the  girl  said:  "  Perhaps 
it  would  be  better  for  us  to  go  back  to 
the  car." 

66 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

"  I  won't  do  it  again,"  begged  the 
man. 

"  We  will  pretend,"  cried  the  girl, 
"  that  the  car  is  a  van  and  that  we  are 
gypsies,  and  we'll  build  a  campfire,  and 
I  will  tell  your  fortune." 

"  You  are  the  only  woman  who  can," 
muttered  the  young  man. 

The  girl  still  stood  in  her  tracks. 

"  You  said—  '  she  began. 

"  I  know,"  interrupted  the  man, 
"  but  you  won't  let  me  talk  seriously, 
so  I  joke.  But  some  day— 

"  Oh,  look!  "  cried  the  girl.  "  There's 
Fred." 

She  ran  from  him  down  the  road. 
The  young  man  followed  her  slowly, 
his  fists  deep  in  the  pockets  of  the  great- 
coat, and  kicking  at  the  unoffending 
leaves. 

The  chauffeur  was  peering  through 
a  double  iron  gate  hung  between  square 
67 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

brick  posts.  The  lower  hinge  of  one 
gate  was  broken,  and  that  gate  lurched 
forward,  leaving  an  opening.  By  the 
light  of  the  electric  torch  they  could 
see  the  beginning  of  a  driveway,  rough 
and  weed-grown,  lined  with  trees  of 
great  age  and  bulk,  and  an  unkempt 
lawn,  strewn  with  bushes,  and  beyond, 
in  an  open  place  bare  of  trees  and  illu- 
minated faintly  by  the  stars,  the  shadow 
of  a  house,  black,  silent,  and  forbid- 
ding. 

"  That's  it,"  whispered  the  chauf- 
feur. "  I  was  here  before.  The  well  is 
over  there." 

The  young  man  gave  a  gasp  of  aston- 
ishment. 

"  Why,"  he  protested,  "  this  is  the 
Carey  place!  I  should  say  we  were 
lost.  We  must  have  left  the  road  an 
hour  ago.  There's  not  another  house 
within  miles."  But  he  made  no  move- 
68 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

ment  to  enter.  "  Of  all  places!  "  he 
muttered. 

"  Well,  then,"  urged  the  girl  briskly, 
"  if  there's  no  other  house,  let's  tap 
Mr.  Carey's  well  and  get  on." 

"  Do  you  know  who  he  is?  "  asked 
the  man. 

The  girl  laughed.  "  You  don't  need 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  take  a  bucket 
of  water,  do  you?  "  she  said. 

"  It's  Philip  Carey's  house.  He  lives 
here."  He  spoke  in  a  whisper,  and  in- 
sistently, as  though  the  information 
must  carry  some  special  significance. 
But  the  girl  showed  no  sign  of  enlight- 
enment. "  You  remember  the  Carey 
boys?  "  he  urged.  "  They  left  Har- 
vard the  year  I  entered.  They  had  to 
leave.  They  were  quite  mad.  All  the 
Careys  have  been  mad.  The  boys  were 
queer  even  then,  and  awfully  rich. 
Henry  ran  away  with  a  girl  from  a 
69 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

shoe  factory  in  Brockton  and  lives  in 
Paris,  and  Philip  was  sent  here." 

"Sent  here?'  repeated  the  girl. 
Unconsciously  her  voice  also  had  sunk 
to  a  whisper. 

"  He  has  a  doctor  and  a  nurse  and 
keepers,  and  they  live  here  all  the  year 
round.  When  Fred  said  there  were 
people  hereabouts,  I  thought  we  might 
strike  them  for  something  to  eat,  or 
even  to  put  us  up  for  the  night,  but, 
Philip  Carey!  I  shouldn't  fancy " 

"  I  should  think  not !  "  exclaimed  the 
girl. 

For  a  minute  the  three  stood  silent, 
peering  through  the  iron  bars. 

"  And  the  worst  of  it  is,"  went  on 
the  young  man  irritably,  "  he  could 
give  us  such  good  things  to  eat." 

"  It  doesn't  look  it,"  said  the  girl. 

"  I  know,"  continued  the  man  in  the 
same  eager  whisper.  "  But — who  was 
70 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

it  was  telling  me  ?  Some  doctor  I  know 
who  came  down  to  see  him.  He  said 
Carey  does  himself  awfully  well,  has 
the  house  full  of  bully  pictures,  and  the 
family  plate,  and  wonderful  collections 
—things  he  picked  up  in  the  East- 
gold  ornaments,  and  jewels,  and  jade." 

"  I  shouldn't  think,"  said  the  girl  in 
the  same  hushed  voice,  "  they  would 
let  him  live  so  far  from  any  neighbors 
with  such  things  in  the  house.  Sup- 
pose burglars— 

"  Burglars!  Burglars  would  never 
hear  of  this  place.  How  could  they? 
Even  his  friends  think  it's  just  a  pri- 
vate madhouse." 

The  girl  shivered  and  drew  back  from 
the  gate. 

Fred  coughed  apologetically. 

"  I've  heard  of  it,"  he  volunteered. 
"  There  was  a  piece  in  the  Sunday 
Post.    It  said  he  eats  his  dinner  in  a 
71 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

diamond  crown,  and  all  the  walls  is 
gold,  and  two  monkeys  wait  on  table 
with  gold 

"  Nonsense!  "  said  the  man  sharply. 
"  He  eats  like  any  one  else  and  dresses 
like  any  one  else.  How  far  is  the  well 
from  the  house?  ': 

"It's  purty  near,"  said  the  chauf- 
feur. 

"  Pretty  near  the  house,  or  pretty 
near  here?  ': 

"Just  outside  the  kitchen;  and  it 
makes  a  creaky  noise." 

"  You  mean  you  don't  want  to  go?  ' 

Fred's  answer  was  unintelligible. 

"  You  wait  here  with  Miss  Forbes," 
said  the  young  man.  "  And  I'll  get  the 
water." 

"  Yes,  sir!  '•'  said  Fred,  quite  dis- 
tinctly. 

"  No,  sir!  "  said  Miss  Forbes,  with 

equal  distinctness.    "I'm  not  going  to 

72 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

be  left  here  alone — with  all  these  trees. 
I'm  going  with  you." 

"  There  may  be  a  dog,"  suggested 
the  young  man,  "  or,  I  was  thinking  if 
they  heard  me  prowling  about,  they 
might  take  a  shot — just  for  luck.  Why 
don't  you  go  back  to  the  car  with 
Fred?" 

"  Down  that  long  road  in  the  dark?  '• 
exclaimed  the  girl.  "  Do  you  think  I 
have  no  imagination?  ' 

The  man  in  front,  the  girl  close  on 
his  heels,  and  the  boy  with  the  buckets 
following,  crawled  through  the  broken 
gate,  and  moved  cautiously  up  the 
gravel  driveway. 

Within  fifty  feet  of  the  house  the 
courage  of  the  chauffeur  returned. 

"  You  wait  here,"  he  whispered, 
"  and  if  I  wake  'em  up,  you  shout  to 
'em  that  it's  all  right,  that  it's  only 


me.': 


73 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

"  Your  idea  being,"  said  the  young 
man,  "  that  they  will  then  fire  at  me. 
Clever  lad.  Run  along." 

There  was  a  rustling  of  the  dead 
weeds,  and  instantly  the  chauffeur  was 
swallowed  in  the  encompassing  shad- 
ows. 

Miss  Forbes  leaned  toward  the  young 
man. 

"  Do  you  see  a  light  in  that  lower 
story?  "  she  whispered. 

"  No,"  said  the  man.    "  Where?  " 

After  a  pause  the  girl  answered:  "  I 
can't  see  it  now,  either.  Maybe  I  didn't 
see  it.  It  was  very  faint — just  a  glow 
— it  might  have  been  phosphorescence." 

"  It  might,"  said  the  man.  He  gave 
a  shrug  of  distaste.  "  The  whole  place 
is  certainly  old  enough  and  decayed 
enough." 

For  a  brief  space  they  stood  quite 
still,  and  at  once,  accentuated  by  their 
74 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

own  silence,  the  noises  of  the  night 
grew  in  number  and  distinctness.  A 
slight  wind  had  risen  and  the  boughs 
of  the  pines  rocked  restlessly,  making 
mournful  complaint;  and  at  their  feet 
the  needles  dropping  in  a  gentle  desul- 
tory shower  had  the  sound  of  rain 
in  springtime.  From  every  side  they 
were  startled  by  noises  they  could  not 
place.  Strange  movements  and  rus- 
tlings caused  them  to  peer  sharply  into 
the  shadows;  footsteps,  that  seemed  to 
approach,  and,  then,  having  marked 
them,  skulk  away;  branches  of  bushes 
that  suddenly  swept  together,  as  though 
closing  behind  some  one  in  stealthy  re- 
treat. Although  they  knew  that  in  the 
deserted  garden  they  were  alone,  they 
felt  that  from  the  shadows  they  were 
being  spied  upon,  that  the  darkness  of 
the  place  was  peopled  by  malign  pres- 
ences. 

75 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

The  young  man  drew  a  cigar  from 
his  case  and  put  it  unlit  between  his 
teeth. 

"  Cheerful,  isn't  it?  r  he  growled. 
"  These  dead  leaves  make  it  damp  as 
a  tomb.  If  I've  seen  one  ghost,  I've 
seen  a  dozen.  I  believe  we're  standing 
in  the  Carey  family's  graveyard." 

"  I  thought  you  were  brave,"  said 
the  girl. 

"  I  am,"  returned  the  young  man, 
"  very  brave.  But  if  you  had  the  most 
wonderful  girl  on  earth  to  take  care  of 
in  the  grounds  of  a  madhouse  at  two  in 
the  morning,  you'd  be  scared  too." 

He  was  abruptly  surprised  by  Miss 
Forbes  laying  her  hand  firmly  upon  his 
shoulder,  and  turning  him  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  house.  Her  face  was  so 
near  his  that  he  felt  the  uneven  flutter- 
ing of  her  breath  upon  his  cheek. 
76 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

"  There  is  a  man,"  she  said,  "  stand- 
ing behind  that  tree." 

By  the  faint  light  of  the  stars  he 
saw,  in  black  silhouette,  a  shoulder  and 
head  projecting  from  beyond  the  trunk 
of  a  huge  oak,  and  then  quickly  with- 
drawn. The  owner  of  the  head  and 
shoulder  was  on  the  side  of  the  tree 
nearest  to  themselves,  his  back  turned 
to  them,  and  so  deeply  was  his  atten- 
tion engaged  that  he  was  unconscious 
of  their  presence. 

"  He  is  watching  the  house,"  said  the 
girl.  "  Why  is  he  doing  that?  " 

"  I  think  it's  Fred,"  whispered  the 
man.  "  He's  afraid  to  go  for  the  water. 
That's  as  far  as  he's  gone."  He  was 
about  to  move  forward  when  from  the 
oak  tree  there  came  a  low  whistle.  The 
girl  and  the  man  stood  silent  and  mo- 
tionless. But  they  knew  it  was  useless ; 
77 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

that  they  had  been  overheard.  A  voice 
spoke  cautiously. 

"  That  you?  "it  asked. 

With  the  idea  only  of  gaining  time, 
the  young  man  responded  promptly 
and  truthfully.  "  Yes,"  he  whispered. 

"  Keep  to  the  right  of  the  house," 
commanded  the  voice. 

The  young  man  seized  Miss  Forbes 
by  the  wrist  and  moving  to  the  right 
drew  her  quickly  with  him.  He  did  not 
stop  until  they  had  turned  the  corner 
of  the  building,  and  were  once  more 
hidden  by  the  darkness. 

"  The  plot  thickens,"  he  said.  "  I 
take  it  that  that  fellow  is  a  keeper,  or 
watchman.  He  spoke  as  though  it  were 
natural  there  should  be  another  man  in 
the  grounds,  so  there's  probably  two  of 
them,  either  to  keep  Carey  in,  or  to 
keep  trespassers  out.  Now,  I  think 
I'll  go  back  and  tell  him  that  Jack  and 
78 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

Jill  went  up  the  hill  to  fetch  a  pail  of 
water,  and  that  all  they  want  is  to  be 
allowed  to  get  the  water,  and  go." 

"  Why  should  a  watchman  hide  be- 
hind a  tree?  "  asked  the  girl.  "  And 
why " 

She  ceased  abruptly  with  a  sharp  cry 
of  fright.  "  What's  that?  "  she  whis- 
pered. 

"What's  what?"  asked  the  young 
man  startled.  "  What  did  you  hear?  '" 

"  Over  there,"  stammered  the  girl. 
"  Something — that — groaned." 

"  Pretty  soon  this  will  get  on  my 
nerves,"  said  the  man.  He  ripped  open 
his  greatcoat  and  reached  under  it. 
"  I've  been  stoned  twice,  when  there 
were  women  in  the  car,"  he  said,  apolo- 
getically, "  and  so  now  at  night  I  carry 
a  gun."  He  shifted  the  darkened  torch 
to  his  left  hand,  and,  moving  a  few 
yards,  halted  to  listen.  The  girl,  re- 
79 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

luctant  to  be  left  alone,  followed  slowly. 
As  he  stood  immovable  there  came  from 
the  leaves  just  beyond  him  the  sound 
of  a  feeble  struggle,  and  a  strangled 
groan.  The  man  bent  forward  and 
flashed  the  torch.  He  saw  stretched 
rigid  on  the  ground  a  huge  wolf-hound. 
Its  legs  were  twisted  horribly,  the  lips 
drawn  away  from  the  teeth,  the  eyes 
glazed  in  an  agony  of  pain.  The  man 
snapped  off  the  light.  "  Keep  back!  ' 
he  whispered  to  the  girl.  He  took  her 
by  the  arm  and  ran  with  her  toward  the 
gate. 

"  Who  was  it?  "  she  begged. 

"  It  was  a  dog,"  he  answered.    "  I 
think " 

He  did  not  tell  her  what  he  thought. 

"  I've  got  to  find  out  what  the  devil 

has    happened    to    Fred! '     he    said. 

"  You  go  back  to  the  car.    Send  your 

brother  here   on  the  run.     Tell  him 

80 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

there's  going  to  be  a  rough-house. 
You're  not  afraid  to  go?  ' 

"  No,"  said  the  girl. 

rA  shadow  blacker  than  the  night 
rose  suddenly  before  them,  and  a  voice 
asked  sternly  but  quietly:  "  What  are 
you  doing  here?  ' 

The  young  man  lifted  his  arm  clear 
of  the  girl,  and  shoved  her  quickly  from 
him.  In  his  hand  she  felt  the  pressure 
of  the  revolver. 

"  Well,"  he  replied  truculently, "  and 
what  are  you  doing  here?  r 

"  I  am  the  night  watchman,"  an- 
swered the  voice.  "  Who  are  you?  ' 

It  struck  Miss  Forbes  if  the  watch- 
man knew  that  one  of  the  trespassers 
was  a  woman  he  would  be  at  once  re- 
assured, and  she  broke  in  quickly: 

"  We  have  lost  our  way,"  she  said 
pleasantly.  "  We  came  here— 

She  found  herself  staring  blindly 
81 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

down  a  shaft  of  light.  For  an  instant 
the  torch  held  her,  and  then  from  her 
swept  over  the  young  man. 

"  Drop  that  gun!  "  cried  the  voice. 
It  was  no  longer  the  same  voice ;  it  was 
now  savage  and  snarling.  For  answer 
the  young  man  pressed  the  torch  in  his 
left  hand,  and,  held  in  the  two  circles 
of  light,  the  men  surveyed  each  other. 
The  newcomer  was  one  of  unusual  bulk 
and  height.  The  collar  of  his  overcoat 
hid  his  mouth,  and  his  derby  hat  was 
drawn  down  over  his  forehead,  but  what 
they  saw  showed  an  intelligent,  strong 
face,  although  for  the  moment  it  wore 
a  menacing  scowl.  The  young  man 
dropped  his  revolver  into  his  pocket. 

"  My  automobile  ran  dry,"  he  said; 
"'we  came  in  here  to  get  some  water. 
My  chauffeur  is  back  there  somewhere 
with  a  couple  of  buckets.  This  is  Mr. 
Carey's  place,  isn't  it?  " 
82 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

"  Take  that  light  out  of  my  eyes! ' 
said  the  watchman. 

"  Take  your  light  out  of  my  eyes," 
returned  the  young  man.  "  You  can 
see  we're  not  —  we  don't  mean  any 
harm." 

The  two  lights  disappeared  simul- 
taneously, and  then  each,  as  though 
worked  by  the  same  hand,  sprang  forth 
again. 

"  What  did  you  think  I  was  going 
to  do?'1'  the  young  man  asked.  He 
laughed  and  switched  off  his  torch. 

But  the  one  the  watchman  held  in 
his  hand  still  moved  from  the  face 
of  the  girl  to  that  of  the  young 
man. 

"  How'd  you  know  this  was  the 
Carey  house?  ':  he  demanded.  "  Do 
you  know  Mr.  Carey?  ' 

"  No,  but  I  know  this  is  his  house." 

For  a  moment  from  behind  his  mask 
83 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

of  light  the  watchman  surveyed  them 
in  silence.  Then  he  spoke  quickly : 

"I'll  take  you  to  him,"  he  said,  "  if 
he  thinks  it's  all  right,  it's  all  right." 

The  girl  gave  a  protesting  cry.  The 
young  man  burst  forth  indignantly: 

"  You  will  not  I  "  he  cried.  "  Don't 
be  an  idiot!  You  talk  like  a  Tender- 
loin cop.  Do  we  look  like  second-story 
workers'? ' 

"  I  found  you  prowling  around  Mr. 
Carey's  grounds  at  two  in  the  morn- 
ing," said  the  watchman  sharply, "  with 
a  gun  in  your  hand.  My  job  is  to  pro- 
tect this  place,  and  I  am  going  to  take 
you  both  to  Mr.  Carey." 

Until  this  moment  the  young  man 
could  see  nothing  save  the  shaft  of  light 
and  the  tiny  glowing  bulb  at  its  base; 
now  into  the  light  there  protruded  a 
black  revolver. 

"  Keep  your  hands  up,  and  walk 
84 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

ahead  of  me  to  the  house,"  commanded 
the  watchman.  "  The  woman  will  go 
in  front." 

The  young  man  did  not  move.  Under 
his  breath  he  muttered  impotently,  and 
bit  at  his  lower  lip. 

"  See  here,"  he  said,  "  I'll  go  with 
you,  but  you  shan't  take  this  lady  in 
front  of  that  madman.  Let  her  go  to 
her  car.  It's  only  a  hundred  yards 
from  here;  you  know  perfectly  well 
she " 

"  I  know  where  your  car  is,  all 
right,"  said  the  watchman  steadily, 
"  a-nd  I'm  not  going  to  let  you  get 
away  in  it  till  Mr.  Carey's  seen  you." 
The  revolver  motioned  forward.  Miss 
Forbes  stepped  in  front  of  it  and  ap- 
pealed eagerly  to  the  young  man. 

"  Do  what  he  says,"  she  urged. 
"It's  only  his  duty.  Please!  Indeed, 

I  don't  mind."     She  turned  to  the 
85 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

watchman.  "  Which  way  do  you  want 
us  to  go?  "  she  asked. 

"  Keep  in  the  light,"  he  ordered. 

The  light  showed  the  broad  steps 
leading  to  the  front  entrance  of  the 
house,  and  in  its  shaft  they  climbed 
them,  pushed  open  the  unlocked  door, 
and  stood  in  a  small  hallway.  It  led 
into  a  greater  hall  beyond.  By  the 
electric  lights  still  burning  they  noted 
that  the  interior  of  the  house  was  as 
rich  and  well  cared  for  as  the  outside 
was  miserable.  With  a  gesture  for  si- 
lence the  watchman  motioned  them  into 
a  small  room  on  the  right  of  the  hall- 
way. It  had  the  look  of  an  office,  and 
was  apparently  the  place  in  which  were 
conducted  the  affairs  of  the  estate. 

In  an  open  grate  was  a  dying  fire ;  in 
front  of  it  a  flat  desk  covered  with 
papers  and  japanned  tin  boxes. 

"  You   stay   here  till  I   fetch   Mr. 
86 


TEE    TRESPASSERS 

Carey,  and  the  servants,"  commanded 
the  watchman.  "  Don't  try  to  get  out, 
and,"  he  added  menacingly,  "  don't 
make  no  noise."  With  his  revolver  he 
pointed  at  the  two  windows.  They 
were  heavily  barred.  "  Those  bars  keep 
Mr.  Carey  in,"  he  said,  "  and  I  guess 
they  can  keep  you  in,  too.  The  other 
watchman,"  he  added,  "  will  be  just 
outside  this  door."  But  still  he  hesi- 
tated, glowering  with  suspicion ;  unwill- 
ing to  trust  them  alone.  His  face  lit 
with  an  ugly  smile. 

"  Mr.  Carey's  very  bad  to-night,"  he 
said;  "  he  won't  keep  his  bed  and  he's 
wandering  about  the  house.  If  he 
found  you  by  yourselves,  he  might— 

The  young  man,  who  had  been  star- 
ing at  the  fire,  swung  sharply  on  his 
heel. 

"  Get-to-hell-out-of-here !  "  he  said. 

The  watchman  stepped  into  the  hall 
87  ' 


THE    SC'ARLET    CAR 

and  was  cautiously  closing  the  door 
when  a  man  sprang  lightly  up  the  front 
steps.  Through  the  inch  crack  left  by 
the  open  door  the  trespassers  heard  the 
newcomer's  eager  greeting. 

"  I  can't  get  him  right!  "  he  panted. 
"  He's  snoring  like  a  hog." 

The  watchman  exclaimed  savagely: 

"  He's  fooling  you."  He  gasped. 
"  I  didn't  mor'  nor  slap  him.  Did 
you  throw  water  on  him?  ' 

"I  drowned  him!'  returned  the 
other.  "  He  never  winked.  I  tell  you 
we  gotta  walk,  and  damn  quick! ' 

"  "Walk! '  The  watchman  cursed 
him  foully.  "  How  far  could  we  walk? 
I'll  bring  him  to,"  he  swore.  "  He's 
scared  of  us,  and  he's  shamming."  He 
gave  a  sudden  start  of  alarm.  "  That's 
it,  he's  shamming.  You  fool!  You 
shouldn't  have  left  him." 

There  was  the  swift  patter  of  retreat- 
88 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

ing  footsteps,  and  then  a  sudden  halt, 
and  they  heard  the  watchman  com- 
mand: "  Go  back,  and  keep  the  other 
two  till  I  come." 

The  next  instant  from  the  outside 
the  door  was  softly  closed  upon 
them. 

It  had  no  more  than  shut  when  to  the 
surprise  of  Miss  Forbes  the  young  man, 
with  a  delighted  and  vindictive  chuckle, 
sprang  to  the  desk  and  began  to  drum 
upon  it  with  his  fingers.  It  were  as 
though  he  were  practising  upon  a  type- 
writer. 

"  He  missed  these,"  he  muttered 
jubilantly.  The  girl  leaned  forward. 
Beneath  his  fingers  she  saw,  flush  with 
the  table,  a  roll  of  little  ivory  buttons. 
She  read  the  words  "  Stables,"  "  Ser- 
vants' hall."  She  raised  a  pair  of 
very  beautiful  and  very  bewildered 

eyes. 

89 


TEE    SCARLET    CAR 

"  But  if  he  wanted  the  servants,  why 
didn't  the  watchman  do  that?'1'  she 
asked. 

"  Because  he  isn't  a  watchman,"  an- 
swered the  young  man.  "  Because  he's 
robbing  this  house." 

He  took  the  revolver  from  his  encum- 
bering greatcoat,  slipped  it  in  his 
pocket,  and  threw  the  coat  from  him. 
He  motioned  the  girl  into  a  corner. 
"  Keep  out  of  the  line  of  the  door,"  he 
ordered. 

"  I  don't  understand,"  begged  the 
girl. 

"  They  came  in  a  car,"  whispered  the 
young  man.  "  It's  broken  down,  and 
they  can't  get  away.  When  the  big 
fellow  stopped  us  and  I  flashed  my 
torch,  I  saw  their  car  behind  him  in  the 
road  with  the  front  off  and  the  lights 
out.  He'd  seen  the  lamps  of  our  car, 
and  now  they  want  it  to  escape  in. 
90 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

That's  why  he  brought  us  here — to  keep 
us  away  from  our  car." 

"  And  Fred!'  gasped  the  girl. 
"Fred's  hurt!" 

"  I  guess  Fred  stumbled  into  the  big 
fellow,"  assented  the  young  man,  "  and 
the  big  fellow  put  him  out ;  then  he  saw 
Fred  was  a  chauffeur,  and  now  they  are 
trying  to  bring  him  to,  so  that  he  can 
run  the  car  for  them.  You  needn't 
worry  about  Fred.  He's  been  in  four 
smash-ups." 

The  young  man  bent  forward  to  lis- 
ten, but  from  no  part  of  the  great  house 
came  any  sign.  He  exclaimed  angrily. 

'  *  They  must  be  drugged, ' '  he  growled. 
He  ran  to  the  desk  and  made  vicious 
jabs  at  the  ivory  buttons. 

"  Suppose  they're  out  of  order!  "  he 
whispered. 

There  was  the  sound  of  leaping  feet. 
The  young  man  laughed  nervously. 
91 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

"  No,  it's  all  right, ' '  he  cried.  ' '  They're 
coining!  r 

The  door  flung  open  and  the  big 
burglar  and  a  small,  rat-like  figure  of  a 
man  burst  upon  them ;  the  big  one  point- 
ing a  revolver. 

1  i  Come  with  me  to  your  car ! "  he  com- 
manded. "  You've  got  to  take  us  to  Bos- 
ton. Quick,  or  I'll  blow  your  face  off." 

Although  the  young  man  glared 
bravely  at  the  steel  barrel  and  the  lift- 
ed trigger,  poised  a  few  inches  from  his 
eyes,  his  body,  as  though  weak  with 
fright,  shifted  slightly  and  his  feet 
made  a  shuffling  noise  upon  the  floor. 
When  the  weight  of  his  body  was  bal- 
anced on  the  ball  of  his  right  foot,  the 
shuffling  ceased.  Had  the  burglar 
lowered  his  eyes,  the  manoeuvre  to  him 
would  have  been  significant,  but  his 
eyes  were  following  the  barrel  of  the 

revolver. 

92 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

In  the  mind  of  the  young  man  the 
one  thought  uppermost  was  that  he 
must  gain  time,  but,  with  a  revolver 
in  his  face,  he  found  his  desire  to 
gain  time  swiftly  diminishing.  Still, 
when  he  spoke,  it  was  with  delibera- 
tion. 

"  My  chauffeur—  '  he  began  slowly. 

The  burglar  snapped  at  him  like  a 
dog.  "  To  hell  with  your  chauffeur!  ' 
he  cried.  "  Your  chauffeur  has  run 
away.  You'll  drive  that  car  yourself, 
or  111  leave  you  here  with  the  top  of 
your  head  off. ' ' 

The  face  of  the  young  man  suddenly 
flashed  with  pleasure.  His  eyes,  look- 
ing past  the  burglar  to  the  door,  lit  with 
relief. 

"  There's  the  chauffeur  now!  "  he 
cried. 

The    big    burglar    for    one    instant 
glanced  over  his  right  shoulder. 
93 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

For  months  at  a  time,  on  Soldiers 
Field,  the  young  man  had  thrown  him- 
self at  human  targets,  that  ran  and 
dodged  and  evaded  him,  and  the  hulk- 
ing burglar,  motionless  before  him,  was 
easily  his  victim. 

He  leaped  at  him,  his  left  arm  swing- 
ing like  a  scythe,  and,  with  the  impact 
of  a  club,  the  blow  caught  the  burglar 
in  the  throat. 

The  pistol  went  off  impotently;  the 
burglar  with  a  choking  cough  sank  in 
a  heap  on  the  floor. 

The  young  man  tramped  over  him 
and  upon  him,  and  beat  the  second 
burglar  with  savage,  whirlwind  blows. 
The  second  burglar,  shrieking  with 
pain,  turned  to  fly,  and  a  fist,  that  fell 
upon  him  where  his  bump  of  honesty 
should  have  been,  drove  his  head  against 
the  lintel  of  the  door. 

At  the  same  instant  from  the  belfry 
94 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

on  the  roof  there  rang  out  on  the  night 
the  sudden  tumult  of  a  bell ;  a  bell  that 
told  as  plainly  as  though  it  clamored 
with  a  human  tongue,  that  the  hand 
that  rang  it  was  driven  with  fear ;  fear 
of  fire,  fear  of  thieves,  fear  of  a  mad- 
man with  a  knife  in  his  hand  running 
amuck;  perhaps  at  that  moment  creep- 
ing up  the  belfry  stairs. 

From  all  over  the  house  there  was  the 
rush  of  feet  and  men's  voices,  and  from 
the  garden  the  light  of  dancing  lan- 
terns. And  while  the  smoke  of  the  re- 
volver still  hung  motionless,  the  open 
door  was  crowded  with  half -clad  fig- 
ures. At  their  head  were  two  young 
men.  One  who  had  drawn  over  his 
night  clothes  a  serge  suit,  and  who,  in 
even  that  garb,  carried  an  air  of  au- 
thority; and  one,  tall,  stooping,  weak 
of  face  and  light-haired,  with  eyes  that 
blinked  and  trembled  behind  great 
95 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

spectacles  and  who,  for  comfort,  hugged 
about  him  a  gorgeous  kimono.  For  an 
instant  the  newcomers  stared  stupidly 
through  the  smoke  at  the  bodies  on  the 
floor  breathing  stertorously,  at  the 
young  man  with  the  lust  of  battle  still 
in  his  face,  at  the  girl  shrinking  against 
the  wall.  It  was  the  young  man  in  the 
serge  suit  who  was  the  first  to  move. 

"  Who  are  you?  "  he  demanded. 

"  These  are  burglars,"  said  the  owner 
of  the  car.  "  We  happened  to  be  pass- 
ing in  my  automobile,  and ' 

The  young  man  was  no  longer  listen- 
ing. With  an  alert,  professional  man- 
ner he  had  stooped  over  the  big  burglar. 
With  his  thumb  he  pushed  back  the 
man's  eyelids,  and  ran  his  fingers  over 
his  throat  and  chin.  He  felt  carefully 
of  the  point  of  the  chin,  and  glanced  up. 

"  You've  broken  the  bone,"  he  said. 

"  I  just  swung  on  him,"  said  the 
96 


"  i  ou've  broken  the  bone,"  he  said 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

young  man.     He  turned  his  eyes,  and 
suggested  the  presence  of  the  girl. 

At  the  same  moment  the  man  in  the 
kimono  cried  nervously :  ' t  Ladies  pres- 
ent, ladies  present.  Go  put  your  clothes 
on,  everybody;  put  your  clothes  on." 

For  orders  the  men  in  the  doorway 
looked  to  the  young  man  with  the  stern 
face. 

He  scowled  at  the  figure  in  the 
kimono. 

"  You  will  please  go  to  your  room, 
sir,"  he  said.  He  stood  up,  and  bowed 
to  Miss  Forbes.  "  I  beg  your  pardon," 
he  asked,  "  you  must  want  to  get  out 
of  this.  Will  you  please  go  into  the 
library?" 

He  turned  to  the  robust  youths  in 
the  door,  and  pointed  at  the  second 
burglar. 

"  Move  him  out  of  the  way,"  he  or- 
dered. 

97 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

The  man  in  the  kimono  smirked  and 
bowed. 

"  Allow  me,"  he  said;  "  allow  me  to 
show  you  to  the  library.  This  is  no 
place  for  ladies." 

The  young  man  with  the  stern  face 
frowned  impatiently. 

"  You  will  please  return  to  your 
room,  sir,"  he  repeated. 

With  an  attempt  at  dignity  the  figure 
in  the  kimono  gathered  the  silk  robe 
closer  about  him. 

"  Certainly,"  he  said.  "  If  you 
think  you  can  get  on  without  me — I  will 
retire,"  and  lifting  his  bare  feet  minc- 
ingly,  he  tiptoed  away.  Miss  Forbes 
looked  after  him  with  an  expression  of 
relief,  of  repulsion,  of  great  pity. 

The  owner  of  the  car  glanced  at 
the  young  man  with  the  stern  face, 
and  raised  his  eyebrows  interroga- 
tively. 

98 


The  girl  shrinking  against  the  wall 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

The  young  man  had  taken  the  re- 
volver from  the  limp  fingers  of  the 
burglar  and  was  holding  it  in  his 
hand.  Winthrop  gave  what  was  half 
a  laugh  and  half  a  sigh  of  compas- 
sion. 

"  So,  that's  Carey?  "  he  said. 

There  was  a  sudden  silence.  The 
young  man  with  the  stern  face  made  no 
answer.  His  head  was  bent  over  the 
revolver.  He  broke  it  open,  and  spilled 
the  cartridges  into  his  palm.  Still  he 
made  no  answer.  When  he  raised  his 
head,  his  eyes  were  no  longer  stern,  but 
wistful,  and  filled  with  an  inexpressible 
loneliness. 

"  No,  /  am  Carey,"  he  said. 

The  one  who  had  blundered  stood 
helpless,  tongue-tied,  with  no  presence 
of  mind  beyond  knowing  that  to  ex- 
plain would  offend  further. 

The  other  seemed  to  feel  for  him 
99 


THE    SCARLET    V  A  R 

more  than  for  himself.  In  a  voice  low 
and  peculiarly  appealing,  he  continued 
hurriedly. 

"  He  is  my  doctor, "  he  said.  "  He 
is  a  young  man,  and  he  has  not  had 
many  advantages — his  manner  is  not — 
I  find  we  do  not  get  on  together.  I  have 
asked  them  to  send  me  some  one  else." 
He  stopped  suddenly,  and  stood  un- 
happily silent.  The  knowledge  that  the 
strangers  were  acquainted  with  his 
story  seemed  to  rob  him  of  his  earlier 
confidence.  He*  made  an  uncertain 
movement  as  though  to  relieve  them  of 
his  presence. 

Miss  Forbes  stepped  toward  him 
eagerly. 

"  You  told  me  I  might  wait  in  the 
library,"  she  said.  "  iWill  you  take 
me  there?  ' 

For  a  moment  the  man  did  not  move, 
but  stood  looking  at  the  young  and 
100 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

beautiful  girl,  who,  with  a  smile,  hid 
the  compassion  in  her  eyes. 

"  Will  you  go?  "  he  asked  wistfully. 

"  Why  not?  "  said  the  girl. 

The  young  man  laughed  with  pleas- 
ure. 

"  I  am  unpardonable,"  he  said.  "  I 
live  so  much  alone — that  I  forget." 
Like  one  who,  issuing  from  a  close 
room,  encounters  the  morning  air,  he 
drew  a  deep,  happy  breath.  "  It  has 
been  three  years  since  a  woman  has  been 
in  this  house,"  he  said  simply.  "  And 
I  have  not  even  thanked  you,"  he  went 
on,'"  nor  asked  you  if  you  are  cold," 
he  cried  remorsefully,  "  or  hungry. 
How  nice  it  would  be  if  you  would  say 
you  are  hungry." 

The  girl  walked  beside  him,  laugh- 
ing lightly,  and,  as  they  disappeared 
into  the  greater  hall  beyond,  Winthrop 
heard  her  cry:  "  You  never  robbed 
101 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

your  own  ice-chest?  How  have  you 
kept  from  starving?  Show  me  it,  and 
we'll  rob  it  together." 

The  voice  of  their  host  rang  through 
the  empty  house  with  a  laugh  like  that 
of  an  eager,  happy  child. 

"  Heavens!  "  said  the  owner  of  the 
car,  "  isn't  she  wonderful!'  But 
neither  the  prostrate  burglars,  nor  the 
servants,  intent  on  strapping  their 
wrists  together,  gave  him  any  answer. 

As  they  were  finishing  the  supper 
filched  from  the  ice-chest,  Fred  was 
brought  before  them  from  the  kitchen. 
The  blow  the  burglar  had  given  him 
was  covered  with  a  piece  of  cold  beef- 
steak, and  the  water  thrown  on  him  to 
revive  him  was  thawing  from  his 
leather  breeches.  Mr.  Carey  expressed 
his  gratitude,  and  rewarded  him  beyond 
the  avaricious  dreams  even  of  a  chauf- 
feur. 

102 


THE    TRESPASSERS 

As  the  three  trespassers  left  the 
house,  accompanied  by  many  pails  of 
water,  the  girl  turned  to  the  lonely  fig- 
ure in  the  doorway  and  waved  her  hand. 

"  May  we  come  again?  "  she  called. 

But  young  Mr.  Carey  did  not  trust 
his  voice  to  answer.  Standing  erect, 
with  folded  arms,  in  dark  silhouette  in 
the  light  of  the  hall,  he  bowed  his 
head. 

Deaf  to  alarm  bells,  to  pistol  shots, 
to  cries  for  help,  they  found  her  brother 
and  Ernest  Peabody  sleeping  soundly. 

"  Sam  is  a  charming  chaperon,"  said 
the  owner  of  the  car. 

With  the  girl  beside  him,  with  Fred 
crouched,  shivering,  on  the  step,  he 
threw  in  the  clutch;  the  servants  from 
the  house  waved  the  emptied  buckets 
in  salute,  and  the  great  car  sprang  for- 
ward into  the  awakening  day  toward 
the  golden  dome  over  the  Boston  Com- 
103 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

mon.  In  the  rear  seat  Peabody  shiv- 
ered and  yawned,  and  then  sat  erect. 

"  Did  you  get  the  water?  "  he  de- 
manded, anxiously. 

There  was  a  grim  silence. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  owner  of  the  car 
patiently.  "  You  needn't  worry  any 
longer.  (We  got  the  water." 


104 


Ill 

THE    KIDNAPPERS 

DURING  the  last  two  weeks  of  the 
"  whirlwind  '  campaign,  auto- 
mobiles had  carried  the  rival  candidates 
to  every  election  district  in  Greater 
New  York. 

During  these  two  weeks,  at  the  dis- 
posal of  Ernest  Peabody — on  the  Re- 
form Ticket,  "  the  people's  choice  for 
Lieutenant-Governor  r  -Winthrop  had 
placed  his  Scarlet  Car,  and,  as  its 
chauffeur,  himself. 

Not  that  Winthrop  greatly  cared  for 
Reform,  or  Ernest  Peabody.  The 
"  whirlwind  "  part  of  the  campaign  was 
what  attracted  him;  the  crowds,  the 
bands,  the  fireworks,  the  rush  by  night 
105 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

from  hall  to  hall,  from  Fordham  to 
Tompkinsville.  And,  while  inside  the 
different  Lyceums,  Peabody  lashed  the 
Tammany  Tiger,  outside  in  his  car, 
Winthrop  was  making  friends  with 
Tammany  policemen,  and  his  natural 
enemies,  the  bicycle  cops.  To  Win- 
throp, the  day  in  which  he  did  not  in- 
crease his  acquaintance  with  the  traffic 
squad,  was  a  day  lost. 

But  the  real  reason  for  his  efforts  in 
the  cause  of  Reform,  was  one  he  could 
not  declare.  And  it  was  a  reason  that 
was  guessed  perhaps  by  only  one  per- 
son. On  some  nights  Beatrice  Forbes 
and  her  brother  Sam  accompanied  Pea- 
body.  And  while  Peabody  sat  in  the 
rear  of  the  car,  mumbling  the  speech 
he  would  next  deliver,  Winthrop  was 
given  the  chance  to  talk  with  her. 
These  chances  were  growing  cruelly 
few.  In  one  month  after  election  day 
106 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

Miss  Forbes  and  Peabody  would  be 
man  and  wife.  Once  before  the  day  of 
their  marriage  had  been  fixed,  but, 
when  the  Reform  Party  offered  Pea- 
body  a  high  place  on  its  ticket,  he 
asked,  in  order  that  he  might  bear  his 
part  in  the  cause  of  reform,  that  the 
wedding  be  postponed.  To  the  post- 
ponement Miss  Forbes  made  no  objec- 
tion. To  one  less  self-centred  than  Pea- 
body,  it  might  have  appeared  that  she 
almost  too  readily  consented. 

"  I  knew  L  could  count  upon  your 
seeing  my  duty  as  I  saw  it,"  said  Pea- 
body  much  pleased,  "  it  always  will  be 
a  satisfaction  to  both  of  us  to  remember 
you  never  stood  between  me  and  my 
work  for  reform." 

"  What  do  you  think  my  brother-in- 

law-to-be  has  done  now?  "  demanded 

Sam  of  Winthrop,  as  the  Scarlet  Car 

swept   into   Jerome   Avenue.     "  He's 

107 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

postponed  his  marriage  with  Trix  just 
because  he  has  a  chance  to  be  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor.  What  is  a  Lieutenant- 
Governor  anyway,  do  you  know?  I 
don't  like  to  ask  Peabody." 

"  It's  not  his  own  election  he's  work- 
ing for,"  said  Winthrop.  He  was  con- 
scious of  an  effort  to  assume  a  point  of 
view  both  noble  and  magnanimous. 
"  He  probably  feels  the  *  cause  '  calls 
him.  But,  good  Heavens!  ' 

"  Look  out!  "  shrieked  Sam,  "  where 
you  going?  ' 

Winthrop  swung  the  car  back  into 
the  avenue. 

"  To  think,"  he  cried,  "  that  a  man 
who  could  marry  —  a  girl,  and  then 
would  ask  her  to  wait  two  months. 
Or,  two  days!  Two  months  lost  out 
of  his  life,  and  she  might  die ;  he  might 
lose  her,  she  might  change  her  mind. 
'Any  number  of  men  can  be  Lieuten- 
108 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

ant-Governors;  only  one  man  can 
be " 

He  broke  off  suddenly,  coughed  and 
fixed  his  eyes  miserably  on  the  road. 
After  a  brief  pause,  Brother  Sam 
covertly  looked  at  him.  Could  it  be 
that "  Billie  "  Winthrop,  the  man  liked 
of  all  men,  should  love  his  sister,  and 
that  she  should  prefer  Ernest  Peabody  ? 
He  was  deeply,  loyally  indignant.  He 
determined  to  demand  of  his  sister  an 
immediate  and  abject  apology. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
election  day,  Peabody,  in  the  Scarlet 
Car-,  was  on  his  way  to  vote.  He  lived 
at  Riverside  Drive,  and  the  polling- 
booth  was  only  a  few  blocks  distant. 
During  the  rest  of  the  day  he  intended 
to  use  the  car  to  visit  other  election 
districts,  and  to  keep  him  in  touch  with 
the  Reformers  at  the  Gilsey  House. 
Winthrop  was  acting  as  his  chauffeur, 
109 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

and  in  the  rear  seat  was  Miss  Forbes. 
Peabody  had  asked  her  to  accompany 
him  to  the  polling-booth,  because  he 
thought  women  who  believed  in  reform 
should  show  their  interest  in  it  in  pub- 
lic, before  all  men.  Miss  Forbes  dis- 
agreed with  him,  chiefly  because  when- 
ever she  sat  in  a  box  at  any  of  the 
public  meetings  the  artists  from  the 
newspapers,  instead  of  immortalizing 
the  candidate,  made  pictures  of  her  and 
her  hat.  After  she  had  seen  her  fu- 
ture lord  and  master  cast  his  vote  for 
reform  and  himself,  she  was  to  depart 
by  train  to  Tarrytown.  The  Forbes 's 
country  place  was  there,  and  for  elec- 
tion day  her  brother  Sam  had  invited 
out  some  of  his  friends  to  play  tennis. 
As  the  car  darted  and  dodged  up 
Eighth  Avenue,  a  man  who  had  been 
hidden  by  the  stairs  to  the  Elevated, 

stepped  in  front  of  it.    It  caught  him, 
110 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

and  hurled  Mm,  like  a  mail-bag  tossed 
from  a  train,  against  one  of  the  pillars 
that  support  the  overhead  tracks.  Win- 
throp  gave  a  cry  and  fell  upon  the 
brakes.  The  cry  was  as  full  of  pain 
as  though  he  himself  had  been  mangled. 
Miss  Forbes  saw  only  the  man  appear, 
and  then  disappear,  but,  Winthrop 's 
shout  of  warning,  and  the  wrench  as 
the  brakes  locked,  told  her  what  had 
happened.  She  shut  her  eyes,  and  for 
an  instant  covered  them  with  her  hands. 
On  the  front  seat  Peabody  clutched 
helplessly  at  the  cushions.  In  horror 
his  .eyes  were  fastened  on  the  motion- 
less mass  jammed  against  the  pillar. 
Winthrop  scrambled  over  him,  and  ran 
to  where  the  man  lay.  So,  apparently, 
did  every  other  inhabitant  of  Eighth 
Avenue ;  but  Winthrop  was  the  first  to 
reach  him  and  kneeling  in  the  car 
tracks,  he  tried  to  place  the  head  and 
111 


TEE    SCARLET    CAR 

shoulders  of  the  body  against  the  iron 
pillar.  He  had  seen  very  few  dead  men ; 
and  to  him,  this  weight  in  his  arms,  this 
bundle  of  limp  flesh  and  muddy  clothes, 
and  the  purple-bloated  face  with  blood 
trickling  down  it,  looked  like  a  dead 
man. 

Once  or  twice  when  in  his  car,  Death 
had  reached  for  Winthrop,  and  only  by 
the  scantiest  grace  had  he  escaped. 
Then  the  nearness  of  it  had  only  so- 
bered him.  Now  that  he  believed  he 
had  brought  it  to  a  fellow  man,  even 
though  he  knew  he  was  in  no  degree 
to  blame,  the  thought  sickened  and 
shocked  him.  His  brain  trembled  with 
remorse  and  horror. 

But  voices  assailing  him  on  every 
side  brought  him  to  the  necessity  of 
the  moment.  Men  were  pressing  close 
upon  him,  jostling,  abusing  him,  shak- 
ing fists  in  his  face.  Another  crowd 
112 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

of  men,  as  though  fearing  the  car  would 
escape  of  its  own  volition,  were  clinging 
to  the  steps  and  running  boards. 

Winthrop  saw  Miss  Forbes  standing 
above  them,  talking  eagerly  to  Peabody, 
and  pointing  at  him.  He  heard  chil- 
dren's shrill  voices  calling  to  new  ar- 
rivals that  an  automobile  had  killed  a 
man ;  that  it  had  killed  him  on  purpose. 
On  the  outer  edge  of  the  crowd  men 
shouted:  "  Ah,  soak  him,"  "  Kill  him," 
"  Lynch  him." 

A  soiled  giant  without  a  collar  stooped 
over  the  purple,  blood-stained  face,  and 
then  leaped  upright,  and  shouted:  "  It's 
Jerry  Gaylor,  he's  killed  old  man 
Gaylor." 

The  response  was  instant.  Every  one 
seemed  to  know  Jerry  Gaylor. 

Winthrop  took  the  soiled  person  by 
the  arm. 

"  You  help  me  lift  him  into  my  car," 
113 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

he  ordered.  "  Take  him  by  the  shoul- 
ders. We  must  get  him  to  a  hospital." 

"  To  a  hospital?  To  the  Morgue!  " 
roared  the  man.  "  And  the  police  sta- 
tion for  yours.  You  don't  do  no  get- 
away." 

Winthrop  answered  him  by  turning 
to  the  crowd.  "  If  this  man  has  any 
friends  here,  they'll  please  help  me  put 
him  in  my  car,  and  we'll  take  him  to 
Roosevelt  Hospital." 

The  soiled  person  shoved  a  fist  and 
a  bad  cigar  under  Winthrop 's  nose. 

"  Has  he  got  any  friends'? "  he 
mocked.  "  Sure,  he's  got  friends,  and 
they'll  fix  you,  all  right." 

"  Sure!  "  echoed  the  crowd. 

The  man  was  encouraged. 

"  Don't  you  go  away  thinking  you 
can  come  up  here  with  your  buzz  wagon 
and  murder  better  men  nor  you'll  ever 

be  and " 

114 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

"  Oh,  shut  up!  "  said  Winthrop. 

He  turned  Ms  back  on  the  soiled  man, 
and  again  appealed  to  the  crowd. 

"  Don't  stand  there  doing  nothing," 
he  commanded.  "  Do  you  want  this 
man  to  die?  Some  of  you  ring  for 
an  ambulance  and  get  a  policeman, 
or  tell  me  where  is  the  nearest  drug 
store." 

No  one  moved,  but  every  one  shouted 
to  every  one  else  to  do  as  Winthrop 
suggested. 

Winthrop  felt  something  pulling  at 
his  sleeve,  and  turning,  found  Peabody 
at  his  shoulder,  peering  fearfully  at  the 
figure  in  the  street.  He  had  drawn  his 
cap  over  his  eyes  and  hidden  the  lower 
part  of  his  face  in  the  high  collar  of  his 
motor  coat. 

"  I  can't  do  anything,  can  I?  "  he 
asked. 

"I'm  afraid  not,"  whispered  Win- 
115 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

throp.  "  Go  back  to  the  car  and 
don't  leave  Beatrice.  I'll  attend  to 
this." 

"  That's  what  I  thought,"  whispered 
Peabody  eagerly.  "  I  thought  she  and 
I  had  better  keep  out  of  it." 

"  Eight!  "  exclaimed  Winthr  op.  "  Go 
back  and  get  Beatrice  away." 

Peabody  looked  his  relief,  but  still 
hesitated. 

"  I  can't  do  anything,  as  you  say," 
he  stammered,  "  and  it's  sure  to  get  in 
the  i  extras,'  and  they'll  be  out  in  time 
to  lose  us  thousands  of  votes,  and 
though  no  one  is  to  blame,  they're  sure 
to  blame  me.  I  don't  care  about  my- 
self," he  added  eagerly,  "  but  the  very 
morning  of  election — half  the  city  has 
not  voted  yet — the  Ticket— 

"  Damn  the  Ticket!  '  exclaimed 
Winthrop.  "  The  man's  dead!  ' 

Peabody,  burying  his  face  still  deeper 
116 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

in  his  collar,  backed  into  the  crowd. 
In  the  present  and  past  campaigns, 
from  carts  and  automobiles  he  had 
made  many  speeches  in  Harlem,  and 
on  the  West  Side,  lithographs  of  his 
stern,  resolute  features  hung  in  every 
delicatessen  shop,  and  that  he  might 
be  recognized,  was  extremely  likely. 

He  whispered  to  Miss  Forbes  what 
he  had  said,  and  what  Winthrop  had 
said. 

"  But  you  don't  mean  to  leave  him," 
remarked  Miss  Forbes. 

"  I  must,"  returned  Peabody.  "  I 
can  do  nothing  for  the  man,  and  you 
know  how  Tammany  will  use  this. 
They'll  have  it  on  the  street  by  ten. 
They'll  say  I  was  driving  recklessly; 
without  regard  for  human  life.  'And, 
besides,  they're  waiting  for  me  at  head- 
quarters. Please  hurry.  I  am  late 


now.': 


117 


Miss  Forbes  gave  an  exclamation  of 
surprise. 

"  Why,  I'm  not  going,"  she  said. 

"You  must  go!  I  must  go.  You 
can't  remain  here  alone." 

Peabody  spoke  in  the  quick,  assured 
tone  that  at  the  first  had  convinced  Miss 
Forbes  his  was  a  most  masterful  man- 
ner. 

"  Winthrop,  too,"  he  added,  "  wants 
you  to  go  away." 

Miss  Forbes  made  no  reply.  But  she 
looked  at  Peabody  inquiringly,  steadily, 
as  though  she  were  puzzled  as  to  his 
identity,  as  though  he  had  just  been  in- 
troduced to  her.  It  made  him  uncom- 
fortable. 

"  Are  you  coming?  "  he  asked. 

Her  answer  was  a  question. 

"  Are  you  going?  ): 

"  I  am!  r-    returned  Peabody.     He 
added  sharply:  "  I  must." 
118 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

"  Good-by,"  said  Miss  Forbes. 

As  he  ran  up  the  steps  to  the  station 
of  the  elevated,  it  seemed  to  Peabody 
that  the  tone  of  her  "  good-by  "  had 
been  most  unpleasant.  It  was  severe, 
disapproving.  It  had  a  final,  fateful 
sound.  He  was  conscious  of  a  feeling 
of  self-dissatisfaction.  In  not  seeing 
the  political  importance  of  his  not  be- 
ing mixed  up  with  this  accident,  Win- 
throp  had  been  peculiarly  obtuse,  and 
Beatrice,  unsympathetic. 

Until  he  had  cast  his  vote  for  Re- 
form, he  felt  distinctly  ill-used. 

For  a  moment  Beatrice  Forbes  sat  in 
the  car  motionless,  staring  unseeingly 
at  the  iron  steps  by  which  Peabody  had 
disappeared.    For  a  few  moments  her  ( 
brows  were  tightly  drawn.    Then,  hav- 
ing apparently  quickly  arrived  at  some 
conclusion,  she  opened  the  door  of  the 
car  and  pushed  into  the  crowd. 
119 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

Winthrop  received  her  most  rudely. 

"  You  mustn't  come  here!  "  he  cried. 

"  I  thought, "  she  stammered,  "  you 
might  want  some  one?  '• 

"  I  told — "  began  Winthrop,  and 
then  stopped,  and  added — "  to  take  you 
away.  Where  is  he ?': 

Miss  Forbes  flushed  slightly. 

"  He's  gone,"  she  said. 

In  trying  not  to  look  at  Winthrop, 
she  saw  the  fallen  figure,  motionless 
against  the  pillar,  and  with  an  exclama- 
tion, bent  fearfully  toward  it. 

"  Can  I  do  anything?  "  she  asked. 

The  crowd  gave  way  for  her,  and 
with  curious  pleased  faces,  closed  in 
again  eagerly.  She  afforded  them  a 
new  interest. 

A  young  man  in  the  uniform  of  an 
ambulance  surgeon  was  kneeling  be- 
side the  mud-stained  figure,  and  a  police 
officer  was  standing  over  both.  The 
120 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

ambulance  surgeon  touched  lightly  the 
matted  hair  from  which  the  blood  es- 
caped, stuck  his  finger  in  the  eye  of  the 
prostrate  man,  and  then  with  his  open 
hand  slapped  him  across  the  face. 

"  Oh!  "  gasped  Miss  Forbes. 

The  young  doctor  heard  her,  and 
looking  up,  scowled  reprovingly.  See- 
ing she  was  a  rarely  beautiful  young 
woman,  he  scowled  less  severely;  and 
then  deliberately  and  expertly,  again 
slapped  Mr.  Jerry  Gaylor  on  the  cheek. 
He  watched  the  white  mark  made  by 
his  hand  upon  the  purple  skin,  until 
the  .blood  struggled  slowly  back  to  it, 
and  then  rose. 

He  ignored  every  one  but  the  police 
officer. 

"  There's  nothing  the  matter  with 
Mm,"  he  said.  "  He's  dead  drunk." 

The  words  came  to  Winthrop  with 
such  abrupt  relief,  bearing  so  tremen- 
121 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

dous  a  burden  of  gratitude,  that  his 
heart  seemed  to  fail  him.  In  his  sud- 
denly regained  happiness,  he  uncon- 
sciously laughed. 

"  Are  you  sure?  "  he  asked  eagerly. 
"  I  thought  I'd  killed  Mm." 

The  surgeon  looked  at  Winthrop 
coldly. 

"  When  they're  like  that,"  he  ex- 
plained with  authority,  "  you  can't 
hurt  'em  if  you  throw  them  off  the 
Times  Building." 

He  condescended  to  recognize  the 
crowd.  "  You  know  where  this  man 
lives'?" 

Voices  answered  that  Mr.  Gaylor 
lived  at  the  corner,  over  the  saloon. 
The  voices  showed  a  lack  of  sympathy. 
Old  man  Gaylor  dead  was  a  novelty; 
old  man  Gaylor  drunk  was  not. 

The  doctor's  prescription  was  simple 

and  direct. 

122 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

"  Put  him  to  bed  till  he  sleeps  it  off," 
he  ordered ;  he  swung  himself  to  the 
step  of  the  ambulance.  "  Let  him  out, 
Steve,"  he  called.  There  was  the  clang 
of  a  gong  and  the  rattle  of  galloping 
hoofs. 

The  police  officer  approached  Win- 
throp.  "  They  tell  me  Jerry  stepped 
in  front  of  your  car;  that  you  wasn't  to 
blame.  I'll  get  their  names  and  where 
they  live.  Jerry  might  try  to  hold  you 
up  for  damages." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,"  said  Win- 
throp. 

With  several  of  Jerry's  friends,  and 
the  soiled  person,  who  now  seemed  dis- 
satisfied that  Jerry  was  alive,  Win- 
throp  helped  to  carry  him  up  one 
flight  of  stairs  and  drop  him  upon  a 
bed. 

"  In  case  he  needs  anything,"  said 
Winthrop,  and  gave  several  bills  to  the 
123 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

soiled  person,  upon  whom  immediately 
Gaylor's  other  friends  closed  in.  "  And 
I'll  send  my  own  doctor  at  once  to  at- 
tend to  him." 

"  You'd  better,"  said  the  soiled  per- 
son morosely,  "  or,  he'll  try  to  shake 
you  down." 

The  opinions  as  to  what  might  be 
Mr.  Gaylor's  next  move  seemed  unani- 
mous. 

From  the  saloon  below,  Winthrop 
telephoned  to  the  family  doctor,  and 
then  rejoined  Miss  Forbes  and  the 
police  officer.  The  officer  gave  him  the 
names  of  those  citizens  who  had  wit- 
nessed the  accident,  and  in  return  re- 
ceived Winthrop 's  card. 

"  Not  that  it  will  go  any  further," 
said  the  officer  reassuringly.  "  They're 
all  saying  you  acted  all  right  and  want- 
ed to  take  him  to  Roosevelt.  There's 
many,"  he  added  with  sententious  in- 
124 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

dignation,  "  that  knock  a  man  down, 
and  then  run  away  without  waiting  to 
find  out  if  they've  hurted  'em  or  killed 


'em.' 


The  speech  for  both  Winthrop  and 
Miss  Forbes  was  equally  embarrassing. 

"  You  don't  say?  "  exclaimed  Win- 
throp nervously.  He  shook  the  police- 
man's hand.  The  handclasp  was  ap- 
parently satisfactory  to  that  official,  for 
he  murmured  "  Thank  you,"  and  stuck 
something  in  the  lining  of  his  helmet. 
"  Now,  then!  '1  Winthrop  said  briskly 
to  Miss  Forbes,  "  I  think  we  have  done 
all  -we  can.  And  we'll  get  away  from 
.this  place  a  little  faster  than  the  law 
allows." 

Miss  Forbes  had  seated  herself  in  the 
car,  and  Winthrop  was  cranking  up, 
when  the  same  policeman,  wearing  an 
anxious  countenance,  touched  him  on 
the  arm.  '  *  There  is  a  gentleman  here, ' ' 
125 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

he  said,  "  wants  to  speak  to  you." 
He  placed  himself  between  the  gentle- 
man and  Winthrop  and  whispered: 
"  He's  '  Izzy  '  Schwab,  he's  a  Harlem 
police-court  lawyer  and  a  Tammany 
man.  He's  after  something,  look  out 
for  him." 

"Winthrop  saw,  smiling  at  him  in- 
gratiatingly, a  slight,  slim  youth,  with 
beady,  rat-like  eyes,  a  low  forehead,  and 
a  Hebraic  nose.  He  wondered  how  it 
had  been  possible  for  Jerry  Gaylor  to 
so  quickly  secure  counsel.  But  Mr. 
Schwab  at  once  undeceived  him. 

"I'm  from  the  Journal"  he  began, 
"  not  regular  on  the  staff,  but  I  send 
'em  Harlem  items,  and  the  court  re- 
porter treats  me  nice,  see !  Now  about 
this  accident;  could  you  give  me  the 
name  of  the  young  lady1? ' 

He  smiled  encouragingly  at  Miss 
Forbes. 

126 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

"  I  could  not!  "  growled  Winthrop. 
"  The  man  wasn't  hurt,  the  policeman 
will  tell  you  so.  It  is  not  of  the  least 
public  interest." 

With  a  deprecatory  shrug,  the  young 
man  smiled  knowingly. 

"  Well,  mebbe  not  the  lady's  name," 
he  granted,  "  but  the  name  of  the  other 
gentleman  who  was  with  you,  when  the 
accident  occurred."  His  black,  rat- 
like  eyes  snapped.  "  I  think  his  name 
would  be  of  public  interest." 

To  gain  time  Winthrop  stepped  into 
the  driver's  seat.  He  looked  at  Mr. 
Schwab  steadily. 

"  There  was  no  other  gentleman,"  he 
said.  "  Do  you  mean  my  chauffeur?  r 
Mr.  Schwab  gave  an  appreciative 
chuckle. 

"  No,  I  don't  mean  your  chauffeur," 
he  mimicked.  "  I  mean,"  he  declared 
theatrically  in  his  best  police-court 
127 


THE    SCARLET    VAR 

manner,  "  the  man  who  to-day  is  hop- 
ing to  beat  Tammany,  Ernest  Pea- 
body!  " 

Winthrop  stared  at  the  youth  in- 
solently. 

"  I  don't  understand  you,"  he  said. 

"  Oh,  of  course  not !  "  jeered  "  Izzy  " 
Schwab.  He  moved  excitedly  from 
foot  to  foot.  "  Then  who  was  the  other 
man,"  he  demanded,  "  the  man  who 
ran  away?  >: 

Winthrop  felt  the  blood  rise  to  his 
face.  That  Miss  Forbes  should  hear 
this  rat  of  a  man,  sneering  at  the  one 
she  was  to  marry,  made  him  hate  Pea- 
body.  But  he  answered  easily: 

"  No  one  ran  away.  I  told  my  chauf- 
feur to  go  and  call  up  an  ambulance. 
That  was  the  man  you  saw." 

As  when  "  leading  on  "  a  witness  to 
commit  himself,  Mr.  Schwab  smiled 
sympathetically. 

128 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

"  And  he  hasn't  got  back  yet,"  he 
purred,  "  has  he?  ' 

"  No,  and  I'm  not  going  to  wait  for 
him,"  returned  Winthrop.  He  reached 
for  the  clutch,  but  Mr.  Schwab  jumped 
directly  in  front  of  the  car. 

"  Was  he  looking  for  a  telephone 
when  he  ran  up  the  elevated  steps'?  "  he 
cried. 

He  shook  his  fists  vehemently. 

"  Oh,  no,  Mr.  Winthrop,  it  won't  do 
— you  make  a  good  witness.  I  wouldn't 
ask  for  no  better,  but,  you  don't  fool 
6  Izzy  '  Schwab." 

"  You're  mistaken,  I  tell  you,"  cried 
Winthrop  desperately.  "  He  may  look 
like — like  this  man  you  speak  of,  but  no 
Peabody  was  in  this  car." 

"  Izzy  "  Schwab  wrung  his  hands 
hysterically. 

"  No,  he  wasn't!  ':1  he  cried,  "  be- 
cause he  run  away!  And  left  an  old 
129 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

man  in  the  street — dead,  for  all  lie 
knowed — nor  cared  neither.  Yah!  " 
shrieked  the  Tammany  heeler.  "  Him 
a  Reformer,  yah!  ' 

"  Stand  away  from  my  car,"  shouted 
Winthrop,  "  or  you'll  get  hurt." 

"  Yah,  you'd  like  to,  wouldn't  you?  " 
returned  Mr.  Schwab,  leaping  nimbly 
to  one  side.  "  What  do  you  think  the 
Journal  '11  give  me  for  that  story, 
hey?  '  Ernest  Peabody,  the  Reformer, 
KiUs  an  Old  Man,  AND  RUNS 
AWAY. '  And  hiding  his  face,  too !  I 
seen  him.  What  do  you  think  that 
story's  worth  to  Tammany,  hey?  It's 
worth  twenty  thousand  votes! '  The 
young  man  danced  in  front  of  the  car 
triumphantly,  mockingly,  in  a  frenzy 
of  malice.  "  Read  the  extras,  that's 
all,"  he  taunted.  "  Read  'em  in  an 
hour  from  now!  r 

Winthrop  glared  at  the  shrieking 
130 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

figure  with  fierce,  impotent  rage ;  then, 
with  a  look  of  disgust,  he  flung  the  robe 
off  his  knees  and  rose.  Mr.  Schwab, 
fearing  bodily  injury,  backed  precipi- 
tately behind  the  policeman. 

"  Come  here,"  commanded  Win- 
throp  softly.  Mr.  Schwab  warily  ap- 
proached. "  That  story,"  said  Win- 
throp,  dropping  his  voice  to  a  low 
whisper,  "  is  worth  a  damn  sight  more 
to  you  than  twenty  thousand  votes. 
You  take  a  spin  with  me  up  Riverside 
Drive  where  we  can  talk.  Maybe  you 
and  I  can  '  make  a  little  business.' : 

At  the  words,  the  face  of  Mr.  Schwab 
first  darkened  angrily,  and  then,  lit  with 
such  exultation  that  it  appeared  as 
though  Winthrop's  efforts  had  only 
placed  Peabody  deeper  in  Mr.  Schwab's 
power.  But  the  rat-like  eyes  wavered, 
there  was  doubt  in  them,  and  greed, 
and,  when  they  turned  to  observe  if  any 
131 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

one  could  have  heard  the  offer,  Win- 
throp  felt  the  trick  was  his.  It  was 
apparent  that  Mr.  Schwab  was  willing 
to  arbitrate. 

He  stepped  gingerly  into  the  front 
seat,  and  as  Winthrop  leaned  over  him 
and  tucked  and  buckled  the  fur  robe 
around  his  knees,  he  could  not  resist  a 
glance  at  his  friends  on  the  sidewalk. 
They  were  grinning  with  wonder  and 
envy,  and  as  the  great  car  shook  itself, 
and  ran  easily  forward,  Mr.  Schwab 
leaned  back  and  carelessly  waved  his 
hand.  But  his  mind  did  not  waver 
from  the  purpose  of  his  ride.  He  was 
not  one  to  be  cajoled  with  fur  rugs  and 
glittering  brass. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Winthrop,"  he  began 
briskly.  "  You  want  to  say  something? 
You  must  be  quick  —  every  minute's 
money." 

"  Wait  till  we're  out  of  the  traffic," 
132 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

begged  Winthrop  anxiously,  "  I  don't 
want  to  run  down  any  more  old  men, 
and  I  wouldn't  for  the  world  have  any- 
thing happen  to  you,  Mr.—  He 
paused  politely. 

"  Schwab — Isadore  Schwab." 

"  How  did  you  know  my  name?  ' 
asked  Winthrop. 

"  The  card  you  gave  the  police 
officer." 

"  I  see,"  said  Winthrop.  They  were 
silent  while  the  car  swept  swiftly  west, 
and  Mr.  Schwab  kept  thinking  that  for 
a  young  man  who  was  afraid  of  the 
traffic,  Winthrop  was  dodging  the  motor 
cars,  beer  vans,  and  iron  pillars,  with 
a  dexterity  that  was  criminally  reck- 
less. 

At  that  hour  Riverside  Drive  was 
empty,  and  after  a  gasp  of  relief,  Mr. 
Schwab  resumed  the  attack. 

"  Now,     then,"     he     said     sharply, 
133 


"  don't  go  any  further.  What  is  this 
you  want  to  talk  about?  ' 

"  How  much  will  the  Journal  give 
you  for  this  story  of  yours?  "  asked 
Winthrop. 

Mr.  Schwab  smiled  mysteriously. 

"  Why?  "  he  asked. 

"  Because,"  said  Winthrop,  "  I  think 
I  could  offer  you  something  better." 

"  You  mean,"  said  the  police-court 
lawyer  cautiously,  "  you  will  make  it 
worth  my  while  not  to  tell  the  truth 
about  what  I  saw?  v 

"  Exactly,"  said  Winthrop. 

"  That's  all!  Stop  the  car,"  cried 
Mr.  Schwab.  His  manner  was  com- 
manding. It  vibrated  with  triumph. 
His  eyes  glistened  with  wicked  satisfac- 
tion. 

11  Stop  the  car?"  demanded  Win- 
throp, "  what  do  you  mean?  ' 

"  I  mean,"  said  Mr.  Schwab  dramat- 
134 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

ically,  "  that  I've  got  you  where  I  want 
you,  thank  you.  You  have  killed  Pea- 
body  dead  as  a  cigar  butt !  Now  I  can 
tell  them  how  his  friends  tried  to  bribe 
me.  Why  do  you  think  I  came  in  your 
car?  For  what  money  you  got?  Do 
you  think  you  can  stack  up  your  roll 
against  the  New  York  Journal's,  or 
against  Tammany's  ?  '"  His  shrill  voice 
rose  exultantly.  "  Why,  Tammany 
ought  to  make  me  judge  for  this !  Now, 
let  me  down  here,"  he  commanded, 
"  and  next  time,  don't  think  you  can 
take  on  '  Izzy  '  Schwab  and  get  away 
with  it." 

They  were  passing  Grant's  Tomb, 
and  the  car  was  moving  at  a  speed 
that  Mr.  Schwab  recognized  was  in  ex- 
cess of  the  speed  limit. 

"  Do  you  hear  me?  "  he  demanded, 
"  let  me  down!  ' 

To  his  dismay  Winthrop  's  answer  was 
135 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

in  some  fashion  to  so  juggle  with  the 
shining  brass  rods  that  the  car  flew 
into  greater  speed.  To  "  Izzy  "  Schwab 
it  seemed  to  scorn  the  earth,  to  pro- 
ceed by  leaps  and  jumps.  But,  what 
added  even  more  to  his  mental  dis- 
comfiture was,  that  Winthrop  should 
turn,  and  slowly  and  familiarly  wink 
at  him. 

As  through  the  window  of  an  express 
train,  Mr.  Schwab  saw  the  white  front 
of  Claremont,  and  beyond  it  the  broad 
sweep  of  the  Hudson.  And,  then,  with- 
out decreasing  its  speed,  the  car  like  a 
great  bird,  swept  down  a  hill,  shot  un- 
der a  bridge,  and  into  a  partly  paved 
street.  Mr.  Schwab  already  was  two 
miles  from  his  own  bailiwick.  His  sur- 
roundings were  unfamiliar.  On  the 
one  hand  were  newly  erected,  unten- 
anted  flat  houses  with  the  paint  still  on 
the  window  panes,  and  on  the  other 
136 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

side,  detached  villas,  a  roadhouse,  an 
orphan  asylum,  a  glimpse  of  the  Hud- 
son. 

"  Let  me  out/'  yelled  Mr.  Schwab, 
' '  what  you  trying  to  do  ?  Do  you  think 
a  few  blocks '11  make  any  difference  to 
a  telephone  ?  You  think  you're  damned 
smart,  don't  you?  But  you  won't  feel 
so  fresh  when  I  get  on  the  long  dis- 
tance. You  let  me  down,"  he  threat- 
ened, "  or,  I'll " 

With  a  sickening  skidding  of  wheels, 
Winthrop  whirled  the  car  round  a  cor- 
ner and  into  the  Lafayette  Boulevard, 
that  for  miles  runs  along  the  cliff  of 
the  Hudson. 

"  Yes,"  asked  Winthrop,  "  what  will 
you  do?  " 

On  one  side  was  a  high  steep  bank, 

on  the  other  many  trees,  and  through 

them  below,  the  river.    But  there  were 

no  houses,  and  at  half -past  eight  in  the 

137 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

morning  those  who  later  drive  upon  the 
boulevard  were  still  in  bed. 

"  What  will  you  do  ?  "  repeated  Win- 
throp. 

Miss  Forbes,  apparently  as  much  in- 
terested in  Mr.  Schwab's  answer  as 
Winthrop,  leaned  forward.  Winthrop 
raised  his  voice  above  the  whir  of  fly- 
ing wheels,  the  rushing  wind  and  scat- 
tering pebbles. 

"  I  asked  you  into  this  car,"  he 
shouted,  "  because  I  meant  to  keep  you 
in  it  until  I  had  you  where  you  couldn't 
do  any  mischief.  I  told  you  I'd  give 
you  something  better  than  the  Journal 
would  give  you,  and  I  am  going  to  give 
you  a  happy  day  in  the  country.  We're 
now  on  our  way  to  this  lady's  house. 
You  are  my  guest,  and  you  can  play 
golf,  and  bridge,  and  the  piano,  and 
eat  and  drink  until  the  polls  close,  and 
after  that  you  can  go  to  the  devil.  If 
138 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

you  jump  out  at  this  speed,  you  will 
break  your  neck.  And,  if  I  have  to 
slow  up  for  anything,  and  you  try  to 
get  away,  111  go  after  you — it  doesn't 
matter  where  it  is — and  break  every 
bone  in  your  body." 

"  Yah!  you  can't! '  shrieked  Mr. 
Schwab.  "You  can't  do  it!"  The 
madness  of  the  flying  engines  had  got 
upon  his  nerves.  Their  poison  was  surg- 
ing in  his  veins.  He  knew  he  had  only 
to  touch  his  elbow  against  the  elbow  of 
"Winthrop,  and  he  could  throw  the  three 
of  them  into  eternity.  He  was  travel- 
ling on  air,  uplifted,  defiant,  carried  be- 
.yond  himself. 

"I  can't  do  what?"  asked  Win- 
throp. 

The  words  reached  Schwab  from  an 

immeasurable  distance,  as  from  another 

planet,   a   calm,   humdrum  planet   on 

which  events  moved  in  commonplace, 

139 


orderly  array.  Without  a  jar,  with  no 
transition  stage,  instead  of  hurtling 
through  space,  Mr.  Schwab  found  him- 
self luxuriously  seated  in  a  cushioned 
chair,  motionless,  at  the  side  of  a  steep 
bank.  For  a  mile  before  him  stretched 
an  empty  road.  And,  beside  him  in  the 
car,  with  arms  folded  calmly  on  the 
wheel  there  glared  at  him  a  grim,  alert 
young  man. 

"I  can't  do  what?'  growled  the 
young  man. 

A  feeling  of  great  loneliness  fell  upon 
"  Izzy '  Schwab.  Where  were  now 
those  officers,  who  in  the  police  courts 
were  at  his  beck  and  call?  Where  the 
numbered  houses,  the  passing  surface 
cars,  the  sweating  multitudes  of  Eighth 
Avenue  ?  In  all  the  world  he  was  alone, 
alone  on  an  empty  country  road,  with 
a  grim,  alert  young  man. 

"  When  I  asked  you  how  you  knew 
140 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

my  name,"  said  the  young  man,  "  I 
thought  you  knew  me  as  having  won 
some  races  in  Florida  last  winter.  This 
is  the  car  that  won.  I  thought  maybe 
you  might  have  heard  of  me  when  I 
was  captain  of  a  football  team  at — a 
university.  If  you  have  any  idea  that 
you  can  jump  from  this  car  and  not 
be  killed,  or,  that  I  cannot  pound  you 
into  a  pulp,  let  me  prove  to  you  you're 
wrong — now.  We're  quite  alone.  Do 
you  wish  to  get  down?  '" 

"  No,"  shrieked  Schwab, "  I  won't!  " 
He  turned  appealingly  to  the  young 
lady.  "  You're  a  witness,"  he  cried. 
"  If  he  assaults  me,  he's  liable.  I 
haven't  done  nothing." 

"  We're  near  Yonkers,"  said  the 
young  man,  "  and  if  you  try  to  take 
advantage  of  my  having  to  go  slow 
through  the  town,  you  know  now  what 
will  happen  to  you." 
141 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

Mr.  Schwab  having  instantly  planned 
on  reaching  Yonkers,  to  leap  from  the 
car  into  the  arms  of  the  village  con- 
stable, with  suspicious  alacrity,  assent- 
ed. The  young  man  regarded  him 
doubtfully. 

"I'm  afraid  I'll  have  to  show  you," 
said  the  young  man.  He  laid  two  fin- 
gers on  Mr.  Schwab's  wrist;  looking 
at  him,  as  he  did  so,  steadily  and 
thoughtfully,  like  a  physician  feeling 
a  pulse.  Mr.  Schwab  screamed.  When 
he  had  seen  policemen  twist  steel  nip- 
pers on  the  wrists  of  prisoners,  he  had 
thought,  when  the  prisoners  shrieked 
and  writhed,  they  were  acting.  He 
now  knew  they  were  not. 

"Now,  will  you  promise?'  de- 
manded the  grim  young  man. 

"  Yes,"  gasped  Mr.  Schwab.  "Ill 
sit  still.  I  won't  do  nothing." 

"  Good,"  muttered  Winthrop. 
142 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

A  troubled  voice  that  carried  to  the 
heart  of  Schwab  a  promise  of  protec- 
tion, said:  "  Mr.  Schwab,  would  you  be 
more  comfortable  back  here  with  me?  ' 

Mr.  Schwab  turned  two  terrified  eyes 
in  the  direction  of  the  voice.  He  saw 
the  beautiful  young  lady  regarding  him 
kindly,  compassionately;  with  just  a 
suspicion  of  a  smile.  Mr.  Schwab  in- 
stantly scrambled  to  safety  over  the 
front  seat  into  the  body  of  the  car. 
Miss  Forbes  made  way  for  the  prisoner 
beside  her  and  he  sank  back  with  a  ner- 
vous, apologetic  sigh.  The  alert  young 
man  was  quick  to  follow  the  lead  of 
the  lady. 

"  You'll  find  caps  and  goggles  in  the 
boot,  Schwab,"  he  said  hospitably. 
"  You  had  better  put  them  on.  We  are 
going  rather  fast  now."  He  extended 
a  magnificent  case  of  pigskin,  that 
bloomed  with  fat  black  cigars.  "  Try 
143 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

one  of  these,"  said  the  hospitable  young 
man.  The  emotions  that  swept  Mr. 
Schwab  he  found  difficult  to  pursue, 
but  he  raised  his  hat  to  the  lady.  i  l  May 
I,  Miss?  "  he  said. 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  lady. 

There  was  a  moment  of  delay  while 
with  fingers  that  slightly  trembled,  Mr. 
Schwab-  selected  an  amazing  green  cap 
and  lit  his  cigar;  and  then  the  car 
swept  forward,  singing  and  humming 
happily,  and  scattering  the  autumn 
leaves.  The  young  lady  leaned  toward 
him  with  a  book  in  a  leather  cover. 
She  placed  her  finger  on  a  twisting  red 
line  that  trickled  through  a  page  of 
type. 

"  We're  just  here,"  said  the  young 
lady,  "  and  we  ought  to  reach  home, 
which  is  just  about  there,  in  an  hour." 

"  I  see,"  said  Schwab.  But  all  he 
saw  was  a  finger  in  a  white  glove, 
144 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

and  long  eyelashes  tangled  in  a  gray 
veil. 

For  many  minutes,  or  for  all  Schwab 
knew,  for  many  miles,  the  young  lady 
pointed  out  to  him  the  places  along  the 
Hudson,  of  which  he  had  read  in  the 
public  school  history,  and  quaint  old 
manor  houses  set  in  glorious  lawns; 
and  told  him  who  lived  in  them. 
Schwab  knew  the  names  as  belonging 
to  down-town  streets,  and  up-town 
clubs.  He  became  nervously  humble, 
intensely  polite,  he  felt  he  was  being 
carried  as  an  honored  guest  into  the 
very  heart  of  the  Four  Hundred,  and 
when  the  car  jogged  slowly  down  the 
main  street  of  Yonkers,  although  a 
policeman  stood  idly  within  a  yard  of 
him,  instead  of  shrieking  to  him  for 
help,  "  Izzy  "  Schwab  looked  at  him 
scornfully  across  the  social  gulf  that 
separated  them,  with  all  the  intolerance 
145 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

he  believed  becoming  in  the  upper 
classes. 

"  Those  bicycle  cops,"  he  said  con- 
fidentially to  Miss  Forbes,  "  are  too 
chesty." 

The  car  turned  in  between  stone  pil- 
lars, and  under  an  arch  of  red  and 
golden  leaves,  and  swept  up  a  long 
avenue  to  a  house  of  innumerable  roofs. 
It  was  the  grandest  house  Mr.  Schwab 
had  ever  entered,  and  when  two  young 
men  in  striped  waistcoats  and  many 
brass  buttons  ran  down  the  stone  steps 
and  threw  open  the  door  of  the  car, 
his  heart  fluttered  between  fear  and 
pleasure. 

Lounging  before  an  open  fire  in  the 
hall  were  a  number  of  young  men,  who 
welcomed  Winthrop  delightedly  and, 
to  all  of  whom  Mr.  Schwab  was  for- 
mally presented.  As  he  was  introduced 
he  held  each  by  the  hand  and  elbow 
146 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

and  said  impressively,  and  much  to  the 
other's  embarrassment,  "  What  name, 
please?  ' 

Then  one  of  the  servants  conducted 
him  to  a  room  opening  on  the  hall,  from 
whence  he  heard  stifled  exclamations 
and  laughter,  and  some  one  saying 
"Hush."  But  "Izzy"  Schwab  did 
not  care.  The  slave  in  brass  buttons 
was  proffering  him  ivory-backed  hair- 
brushes, and  obsequiously  removing  the 
dust  from  his  coat  collar.  Mr.  Schwab 
explained  to  him  that  he  was  not 
dressed  for  automobiling,  as  Mr.  Win- 
throp  had  invited  him  quite  informally. 
The  man  was  most  charmingly  sympa- 
thetic. And  when  he  returned  to  the 
hall  every  one  received  him  with  the 
most  genial,  friendly  interest.  Would 
he  play  golf,  or  tennis,  or  pool,  or 
walk  over  the  farm,  or  just  look  on? 
It  seemed  the  wish  of  each  to  be 
147 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

his  escort.  Never  had  he  been  so 
popular. 

He  said  he  would  "  just  look  on." 
And  so,  during  the  last  and  decisive 
day  of  the  "  whirlwind  >:  campaign, 
while  in  Eighth  Avenue  voters  were 
being  challenged,  beaten,  and  bribed, 
bonfires  were  burning,  and  "  extras  r 
were  appearing  every  half  hour,  "  Iz- 
zy  "  Schwab,  the  Tammany  henchman, 
with  a  secret  worth  twenty  thousand 
votes,  sat  a  prisoner,  in  a  wicker  chair, 
with  a  drink  and  a  cigar,  guarded  by 
four  young  men  in  flannels,  who  played 
tennis  violently  at  five  dollars  a  corner. 

It  was  always  a  great  day  in  the  life 
of  "  Izzy  "  Schwab.  After  a  luncheon, 
which,  as  he  later  informed  his  friends, 
could  not  have  cost  less  than  "  two  dol- 
lars a  plate  and  drink  all  you  like," 
Sam  Forbes  took  him  on  at  pool.  Mr. 
Schwab  had  learned  the  game  in  the 
148 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

cellars  of  Eighth  Avenue  at  two  and  a 
half  cents  a  cue,  and  now,  even  in  Co- 
lumbus Circle  he  was  a  star.  So,  before 
the  sun  had  set  Mr.  Forbes,  who  at  pool 
rather  fancied  himself,  was  seventy- 
five  dollars  poorer,  and  Mr.  Schwab 
just  that  much  to  the  good.  Then  there 
followed  a  strange  ceremony  called  tea, 
or,  if  you  preferred  it,  whiskey  and 
soda;  and  the  tall  footman  bent  before 
him  with  huge  silver  salvers  laden  down 
with  flickering  silver  lamps,  and  bub- 
bling soda  bottles,  and  cigars,  and 
cigarettes. 

"  You  could  have  filled  your  pockets 
with  twenty-five  cent  Havanas,  and 
nobody  would  have  said  nothing!  "  de- 
clared Mr.  Schwab,  and  his  friends  who 
never  had  enjoyed  his  chance  to  study 
at  such  close  quarters  the  truly  rich, 
nodded  enviously. 

At  six  o'clock  Mr.  Schwab"  led  "Win- 
149 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

throp  into  the  big  library  and  asked 
for  his  ticket  of  leave. 

"  They'll  be  counting  the  votes  soon," 
he  begged.  "  I  can't  do  no  harm  now, 
and  I  don't  mean  to.  I  didn't  see  noth- 
ing, and  I  won't  say  nothing.  But  it's 
election  night,  and — and  I  just  got  to 
be  on  Broadway." 

"  Right,"  said  Winthrop,  "  I'll  have 
a  car  take  you  in,  and  if  you  will  accept 
this  small  check " 

"No!"  roared  "  Izzy "  Schwab. 
Afterward  he  wondered  how  he  came 
to  do  it.  "  You've  give  me  a  good  time, 
Mr.  Winthrop.  You've  treated  me  fine, 
all  the  gentlemen  have  treated  me  nice. 
I'm  not  a  blackmailer,  Mr.  Win- 
throp." Mr.  Schwab's  voice  shook 
slightly. 

"  Nonsense,  Schwab,  you  didn't  let 
me  finish,"  said  Winthrop,  "I'm  likely 
to  need  a  lawyer  any  time ;  this  is  a  re- 
150 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

taining  fee.  Suppose  I  exceed  the 
speed  limit — I'm  liable  to  do  that— 

"  You  bet  you  are!  "  exclaimed  Mr. 
Schwab  violently. 

"  Well,  then,  I'll  send  for  you,  and 
there  isn't  a  police  magistrate,  nor  any 
of  the  traffic  squad,  you  can't  handle, 
is  there?  " 

Mr.  Schwab  flushed  with  pleasure. 

"  You  can  count  on  me,"  he  vowed, 
"  and  your  friends,  too,  and  the  ladies," 
he  added  gallantly.  "  If  ever  the  ladies 
want  to  get  bail,  tell  'em  to  telephone 
for  '  Izzy  '  Schwab.  Of  course,"  he 
said . reluctantly,  "if  it's  a  retaining 
fee » 

But  when  he  read  the  face  of  the 
check  he  exclaimed  in  protest.  "  But, 
Mr.  Winthrop,  this  is  more  than  the 
Journal  would  have  give  me! ' 

They  put  him  in  a  car  belonging  to 
one  of  the  other  men,  and  all  came  out 
151 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

on  the  steps  to  wave  him  "  good-by," 
and  he  drove  magnificently  into  his  own 
district,  where  there  were  over  a  dozen 
men  who  swore  he  tipped  the  French 
chauffeur  a  five  dollar  bill  "  just  like 
it  was  a  cigarette.'7 

All  of  election  day  since  her  arrival 
in  Winthrop's  car,  Miss  Forbes  had 
kept  to  herself.  In  the  morning,  when 
the  other  young  people  were  out  of 
doors,  she  remained  in  her  room,  and 
after  luncheon  when  they  gathered 
round  the  billiard  table,  she  sent  for  her 
cart  and  drove  off  alone.  The  others 
thought  she  was  concerned  over  the 
possible  result  of  the  election,  and  did 
not  want  to  disturb  them  by  her  anxi- 
ety. Winthrop,  thinking  the  presence 
of  Schwab  embarrassed  her,  recalling 
as  it  did  Peabody's  unfortunate  con- 
duct of  the  morning,  blamed  himself 
for  bringing  Schwab  to  the  house.  But 
152 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

he  need  not  have  distressed  himself. 
Miss  Forbes  was  thinking  neither  of 
Schwab  nor  Peabody,  nor  was  she  wor- 
ried or  embarrassed.  On  the  contrary, 
she  was  completely  happy. 

When  that  morning  she  had  seen 
Peabody  running  up  the  steps  of  the 
Elevated,  all  the  doubts,  the  troubles, 
questions,  and  misgivings  that  night 
and  day  for  the  last  three  months  had 
upset  her,  fell  from  her  shoulders  like 
the  pilgrim's  heavy  pack.  For  months 
she  had  been  telling  herself  that  the 
unrest  she  felt  when  with  Peabody  was 
due  .to  her  not  being  able  to  appreciate 
the  importance  of  those  big  affairs  in 
which  he  was  so  interested;  in  which 
he  was  so  admirable  a  figure.  She  had, 
as  she  supposed,  loved  him,  because  he 
was  earnest,  masterful,  intent  of  pur- 
pose. His  had  seemed  a  fine  character. 
When  she  had  compared  him  with  the 
153 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

amusing  boys  of  her  own  age,  the  easy- 
going joking  youths  to  whom  the  bet- 
terment of  New  York  was  of  no  con- 
cern, she  had  been  proud  in  her  choice. 
She  was  glad  Peabody  was  ambitious. 
She  was  ambitious  for  him.  She  was 
glad  to  have  him  consult  her  on  those 
questions  of  local  government,  to  listen 
to  his  fierce,  contemptuous  abuse  of 
Tammany.  And  yet  early  in  their  en- 
gagement she  had  missed  something, 
something  she  had  never  known,  but 
which  she  felt  sure  should  exist. 
Whether  she  had  seen  it  in  the  lives  of 
others,  or  read  of  it  in  romances,  or 
whether  it  was  there  because  it  was 
nature  to  desire  to  be  loved,  she  did  not 
know.  But  long  before  Winthrop  re- 
turned from  his  trip  round  the  world, 
in  her  meetings  with  the  man  she  was 
to  marry,  she  had  begun  to  find  that 
there  was  something  lacking.  And 
154 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

Winthrop  had  shown  her  that  this 
something  lacking  was  the  one  thing 
needful.  When  Winthrop  had  gone 
abroad  he  was  only  one  of  her  brother's 
several  charming  friends.  One  of  the 
amusing  merry  youths  who  came  and 
went  in  the  house  as  freely  as  Sam  him- 
self. Now,  after  two  years'  absence,  he 
refused  to  be  placed  in  that  category. 

He  rebelled  on  the  first  night  of  his 
return.  As  she  came  down  to  the  din- 
ner of  welcome  her  brother  was  giving 
Winthrop,  he  stared  at  her  as  though 
she  were  a  ghost,  and  said,  so  solemnly 
that  every  one  in  the  room,  even  Pea- 
body,  smiled:  "  Now  I  know  why  I 
came  home."  That  he  refused  to  rec- 
ognize her  engagement  to  Peabody,  that 
on  every  occasion  he  told  her,  or  by 
some  act  showed  her,  he  loved  her ;  that 
he  swore  she  should  never  marry  any 
one  but  himself,  and  that  he  would 
155 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

never  marry  any  one  but  her,  did  not 
at  first,  except  to  annoy,  in  any  way 
impress  her. 

But  he  showed  her  what  in  her  in- 
tercourse with  Peabody  was  lacking. 
At  first  she  wished  Peabody  could  find 
time  to  be  as  fond  of  her,  as  foolishly 
fond  of  her,  as  was  Winthrop.  But 
she  realized  that  this  was  unreasonable. 
Winthrop  was  just  a  hot-headed  im- 
pressionable boy,  Peabody  was  a  man 
doing  a  man's  work.  And  then  she 
found  that  week  after  week  she  became 
more  difficult  to  please.  Other  things 
in  which  she  wished  Peabody  might  be 
more  like  Winthrop,  obtruded  them- 
selves. Little  things  which  she  was 
ashamed  to  notice,  but  which  rankled; 
and  big  things,  such  as  consideration 
for  others,  and  a  sense  of  humor,  and 
not  talking  of  himself.  Since  this  cam- 
paign began,  at  times  she  had  felt  that 
156 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

if  Peabody  said  "  I  "  once  again,  she 
must  scream.  She  assured  herself  she 
was  as  yet  unworthy  of  him,  that  her 
intelligence  was  weak,  that  as  she  grew 
older  and  so  better  able  to  understand 
serious  affairs,  such  as  the  importance 
of  having  an  honest  man  at  Albany  as 
Lieutenant-Governor,  they  would  be- 
come more  in  sympathy.  And  now,  at 
a  stroke,  the  whole  fabric  of  self-decep- 
tion fell  from  her.  It  was  not  that  she 
saw  Peabody  so  differently,  but  that 
she  saw  herself  and  her  own  heart,  and 
where  it  lay.  And  she  knew  that 
"  Billy  "  Winthrop,  gentle,  joking,  self- 
ish only  in  his  love  for  her,  held  it  in 
his  two  strong  hands. 

For  the  moment,  when  as  she  sat  in 
the  car  deserted  by  Peabody  this  truth 
flashed  upon  her,  she  forgot  the  man 
lying  injured  in  the  street,  the  un- 
scrubbed  mob  crowding  about  her.  She 
157 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

was  conscious  only  that  a  great  weight 
had  been  lifted.  That  her  blood  was 
flowing  again,  leaping,  beating,  dancing 
through  her  body.  It  seemed  as  though 
she  could  not  too  quickly  tell  Winthrop. 
For  both  of  them  she  had  lost  out  of 
their  lives  many  days.  She  had  risked 
losing  him  for  always.  Her  only 
thought  was  to  make  up  to  him  and  to 
herself  the  wasted  time.  But  through- 
out the  day  the  one-time  welcome,  but 
now  intruding,  friends  and  the  innu- 
merable conventions  of  hospitality  re- 
quired her  to  smile  and  show  an  in- 
terest, when  her  heart  and  mind  were 
crying  out  the  one  great  fact. 

It  was  after  dinner,  and  the  members 
of  the  house  party  were  scattered  be- 
tween the  billiard-room  and  the  piano. 
Sam  Forbes  returned  from  the  tele- 
phone. 

"  Tammany, "  he  announced,  "  con- 
158 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

cedes  the  election  of  Jerome  by  forty 
thousand  votes,  and  that  he  carries  his 
ticket  with  him.  Ernest  Peabody  is 
elected  his  Lieutenant-Governor  by  a 
thousand  votes.  Ernest,"  he  added, 
"  seems  to  have  had  a  close  call." 
There  was  a  tremendous  chorus  of  con- 
gratulations in  the  cause  of  Reform. 
They  drank  the  health  of  Peabody. 
Peabody  himself,  on  the  telephone,  in- 
formed Sam  Forbes  that  a  conference 
of  the  leaders  would  prevent  his  being 
present  with  them  that  evening.  The 
enthusiasm  for  Reform  perceptibly  in- 
creased. 

An  hour  later  Winthrop  came  over 
to  Beatrice  and  held  out  his  hand. 
"  I'm  going  to  slip  away,"  he  said. 
"  Good-night." 

"  Going  away!  "  exclaimed  Beatrice. 

Her  voice  showed  such  apparently 
acute  concern  that  Winthrop  wondered 
159 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

how  the  best  of  women  could  be  so  de- 
ceitful, even  to  be  polite. 

"  I  promised  some  men,"  he  stam- 
mered, "  to  drive  them  down-town  to 
see  the  crowds." 

Beatrice  shook  her  head. 

"  It's  far  too  late  for  that,"  she  said. 
"Tell  me  the  real  reason." 

Winthrop  turned  away  his  eyes. 

"  Oh !  the  real  reason,"  he  said  grave- 
ly, "  is  the  same  old  reason,  the  one  I'm 
not  allowed  to  talk  about.  It's  cruelly 
hard  when  I  don't  see  you,"  he  went 
on,  slowly  dragging  out  the  words, 
"but  it's  harder  when  I  do;  so  I'm 
going  to  say  i  good-night '  and  run  into 
town." 

He  stood  for  a  moment  staring  mood- 
ily at  the  floor,  and  then  dropped  into 
a  chair  beside  her. 

"  And,  I  believe,  I've  not  told  you," 
160 


THE    KIDNAPPERS 

he  went  on,  "  that  on  Wednesday  I'm 
running  away  for  good,  that  is,  for  a 
year  or  two.  I've  made  all  the  fight 
I  can  and  I  lose,  and  there  is  no  use  in 
my  staying  on  here  to — well — to  suffer, 
that  is  the  plain  English  of  it.  So," 
he  continued  briskly,  "  I  won't  be  here 
for  the  ceremony,  and  this  is  '  good-by  ' 
as  well  as  '  good-night.' 

"  Where  are  you  going  for  a  year?  ' 
asked  Miss  Forbes. 

Her  voice  now  showed  no  concern. 
It  even  sounded  as  though  she  did  not 
take  his  news  seriously,  as  though  as  to 
his  movements  she  was  possessed  of  a 
knowledge  superior  to  his  own.  He 
tried  to  speak  in  matter-of-fact  tones. 

"  To  Uganda!  "he  said. 

"  To  Uganda?"  repeated  Miss 
Forbes.  "  Where  is  Uganda  ?" 

"It  is  in  East  Africa;  I  had  bad 
161 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

luck  there  last  trip,  but  now  I  know 
the  country  better,  and  I  ought  to  get 
some  good  shooting." 

Miss  Forbes  appeared  indifferently 
incredulous.  In  her  eyes  there  was  a 
look  of  radiant  happiness.  It  rendered 
them  bewilderingly  beautiful. 

"  On  Wednesday,"  she  said.  "  Won't 
you  come  and  see  us  again  before  you 
sail  for  Uganda  ?  ' 

Winthrop  hesitated. 

"Ill  stop  in  and  say  '  good-by  '  to 
your  mother  if  she's  in  town,  and  to 
thank  her.  She's  been  awfully  good  to 
me.  But  you — I  really  would  rather 
not  see  you  again.  You  understand,  or 
rather,  you  don't  understand,  and,"  he 
added  vehemently,  "  you  never  will  un- 
derstand." He  stood  looking  down  at 
her  miserably. 

On  the  driveway  outside  there  was  a 
162 


TEE    KIDNAPPERS 

crunching  on  the  gravel  of  heavy  wheels 
and  an  aurora-borealis  of  lights. 

"  There's  your  car,"  said  Miss 
Forbes.  "  I'll  go  out  and  see  you  off." 

"  You're  very  good,"  muttered  "Win- 
throp.  He  could  not  understand.  This 
parting  from  her  was  the  great  mo- 
ment in  his  life,  and  although  she  must 
know  that,  she  seemed  to  be  making  it 
unnecessarily  hard  for  him.  He  had 
told  her  he  was  going  to  a  place  very 
far  away,  to  be  gone  a  long  time,  and 
she  spoke  of  saying  "  good-by  "  to  him 
as  pleasantly  as  though  it  was  his  in- 
tention to  return  from  Uganda  for 
breakfast. 

Instead  of  walking  through  the  hall 
where  the  others  were  gathered,  she  led 
him  out  through  one  of  the  French  win- 
dows upon  the  terrace,  and  along  it  to 
the  steps.  When  she  saw  the  chauffeur 
standing  by  the  car,  she  stopped. 
163 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

"  I  thought  you  were  going  alone," 
she  said. 

* '  I  am, ' '  answered  Winthrop.  "  It 's 
not  Fred;  that's  Sam's  chauffeur;  he 
only  brought  the  car  around." 

The  man  handed  Winthrop  his  coat 
and  cap,  and  left  them,  and  Winthrop 
seated  himself  at  the  wheel.  She  stood 
above  him  on  the  top  step.  In  the  even- 
ing gown  of  lace  and  silver  she  looked  a 
part  of  the  moonlight  night.  For  each 
of  them  the  moment  had  arrived.  Like 
a  swimmer  standing  on  the  bank  gath- 
ering courage  for  the  plunge,  Miss 
Forbes  gave  a  trembling,  shivering 
sigh. 

"  You're  cold,"  said  Winthrop,  gen- 
tly. "  You  must  go  in.  Good-by." 

"  It  isn't  that,"  said  the  girl.  "  Have 
you  an  extra  coat?  ' 

"  It  isn't  cold  enough  for " 

"  I  meant  for  me,"  stammered  the 
164 


TEE    KIDNAPPERS 

girl  in  a  frightened  voice.  * '  I  thought 
perhaps  you  would  take  me  a  little  way, 
and  bring  me  back." 

At  first  the  young  man  did  not  an- 
swer, but  sat  staring  in  front  of  him, 
then,  he  said  simply: 

"  It's  awfully  good  of  you,  Beatrice. 
I  won't  forget  it." 

It  was  a  wonderful  autumn  night, 
moonlight,  cold,  clear  and  brilliant. 
She  stepped  in  beside  him  and  wrapped 
herself  in  one  of  his  great-coats.  They 
started  swiftly  down  the  avenue  of 
trees. 

"  No,  not  fast,"  begged  the  girl,  "  I 
want  to  talk  to  you." 

The  car  checked  and  rolled  forward 
smoothly,  sometimes  in  deep  shadow, 
sometimes  in  the  soft  silver  glamour  of 
the  moon;  beneath  them  the  fallen 
leaves  crackled  and  rustled  under  the 
slow  moving  wheels.  At  the  highway 
165 


THE    SCARLET    CAR 

Winthrop  hesitated.  It  lay  before  them 
arched  with  great  and  ancient  elms ;  be- 
low, the  Hudson  glittered  and  rippled 
in  the  moonlight. 

"  Which  way  do  you  want  to  go?  ' 
said  Winthrop. 

His  voice  was  very  grateful,  very 
humble. 

The  girl  did  not  answer. 

There  was  a  long,  long  pause. 

Then  he  turned  and  looked  at  her  and 
saw  her  smiling  at  him  with  that  light 
in  her  eyes  that  never  was  on  land  or 
sea. 

"  To  Uganda,"  said  the  girl. 


166 


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